Stay With Me
by Fumie Adachi
Summary: "Don't do this." I whispered. "Don't what?" "Don't make me love you, Kakashi." He didn't reply. [/Kakashi x OC/]
1. Prologue

_After a few minutes of the disastrous – and slightly drunk – game of truth or dare, Naruto had volunteered Kakashi. Kakashi was more drunk than he was, which was not a good thing._

_Naruto sat across from Kakashi, thinking. Then, he slurred. "So, Kakashi-sensei… Who's the love of your life?"_

_Kakashi stiffened. Sakura hissed._

_"What is it?" Naruto giggled. "Does Kakashi have a crush? D'awww." He pinched the older man's cheeks, grinning._

_Kakashi stood up abruptly, pushing Naruto away. Sakura, who was the most sober, rushed up._

_"Kakashi-"_

_"Leave it." He muttered, pushing past her._

_Naruto watched him go, gaping. Sakura hit him over the head, half-heartedly._

_"W-what did I do? Did he have some girlfriend?"_

_She turned to him, biting her lip._

_"I can't tell you."_

_"Why not?" He whined. "What's wrong with Kakashi-sensei?"_

_"Okay, okay." Sakura sighed. "There may have been someone. But she died."_


	2. Chapter 1 - Don't Make Me Love You

**Kohaku's PoV**

The carrier bumped crazily over the road, knocking back and forth. Kakashi, walked beside me casually, with a few other ninja guards and four people carrying the litter. Inside, the person we were escorting, Princess Momo, yelled.

"This road is so bumpy! Can't we take another route?"

Kakashi laughed, "This road is safer, princess. There's more robberies and enemy nin attacks on the main roads."

"But they are faster!" She said angrily, "I command you to take me on the main roads! My poor behind..." She sniffed, and Kakashi laughed again.

"Your poor behind..." I muttered. Kakashi caught my eye. I looked away, my cheeks heating up.

He stared at me, "You okay, Kohaku? Not having a cold or something? You look a bit flushed."

I felt a little pang in my chest, but I shook my head.

"I'm fine." I gulped. He smiled,

"Good," he laughed, "Can't have the second best ninja on this team being sick."

I raised an eyebrow, "Not the best?" I groaned internally. How could he be so oblivious? Didn't he know when to shut up?!

He smirked, "Then you'd have to be better than me." I rolled my eyes and looked away.

"I beat you before." He shrugged, and then opened his mouth to retort, when the princess called,

"Silver haired jonin with very mysterious mask!" Kakashi ran over to her like a lost little puppy.

Okay, maybe not, but still, it was annoying.

I watched him go. The procession stopped, it was almost dark, and we couldn't walk in the night. It was slowing us down, which frustrated me. The princess laughed loudly, making me twitch. I sat on the rock, fiddling with one of my sleeves.

Sakura walked up, slowly. She sat next to me.

"Are you okay? Kakashi said you looked a little flushed?"

I shook my head, keeping my eyes trailed on the ground.

"It's nothing, he's just over-reacting."

He'd told Sakura? I didn't know whether to be pleased or angry.

"Are you sure?" She said, frowning. "You've just seemed a little distant lately."

"Sakura, its fine." I smiled.

"If you're sure..."

"It's fine." I smiled. "Thank you though."

There was silence. The sun was setting just behind the trees. I barely noticed as she walked off, to do something to do with sleeping. I didn't want to sleep. My dreams were dangerous. My mind was a dangerous place to be at night.

"I'll keep watch." I announced, not keeping my eyes off the edge of the clearing. A few people nodded in agreement, a few murmured thanks.

Soon, all that was left was the rapidly fading dusk and the sound of slow breathing. I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I didn't jump.

"Kohaku. I know you're angry-"

"I'm not angry." I said, shifting away. He sighed.

"I'm sorry about what happened."

"Nothing happened." I said sharply. "Nothing."

"You keep telling yourself that." He said under his breath. I stood, glaring at him.

"Nothing happened, Kakashi. Nothing ever will."

"Fine." He said, bending down so I could look him in the eye without straining. "Then why? Why do you stay?"

I gulped. Why did I stay? Why did I stay here? I knew I couldn't do that - I couldn't feel how I did.

"The food. The food is nice."

"You know that's not true."

"You're big headed."

"You know it's true."

"It's not!" I tried not to raise my voice. "There is nothing. Between. Us." I poked his chest, glaring up at him.

"You always were cute when you were angry."

"Don't do this. I can't-"

"Can't what? Can't admit it?"

"I hate you." I said, spinning on my heel and starting to walk away. He caught my shoulder.

"No you don't." He turned me slowly.

"Don't do this." I whispered.

"Don't what?"

"Don't make me love you, Kakashi."

He didn't reply, until;

"How long do I have to wait?" His voice was strangled. "How long do I have to wait for you to decide?"

"I don't know." I stared at my feet. I felt his finger guide my chin upwards.

I'd told myself that the last time was the last time. The last, last time. Last time was a mistake, a glitch. It should have never happened.

Kissing Kakashi is... was a bad idea. And it's not like I could say it was an accident. I have to look up just to see him.

Kissing Kakashi was wrong.

Before, it ended in tears. Why not this time? Why not cry again? That's all I can do to fix this. His hands cupped my chin; I could feel the tears coursing down my face.

I pushed at him with both hands, pulling away. I turned my head to the side. I heard the tiny rustle, barely audible, as his mask was pulled back.

"The last time, Kakashi." I warned. "The last."

~{ღ}~

The building was rumbling now. Somewhere, someone was screaming. Kakashi held his hand out to me. Another shout and I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I cried out, spinning and kicking out at my attacker.

"Kohaku! Come on!" Kakashi shouted. I flipped the man, looking back.

"Kakashi, go!" The princess, a small cut above her eye bleeding profusely, was draped over his back.

"I'm not leaving without you." His voice was quiet, even in the screaming, crashing and shouting. I could still hear every word. "I can't leave you again."

"You never did." I whispered.

"But I can't take that chance." His hand cupped my cheek. I cried out as my side burned. My legs buckled. "Kohaku, come on." He held out his hand. "I can carry you, or drag you. Please." His eyes were dark with worry.

I shook my head.

"Get the princess out. Don't worry about me." I smiled. "I've had worse."

He was going to say something else. The floor cracked.

"Go!" I shouted. "Go!"

He took a step back, shaking his head. The princess groaned.

In slow motion, a rock fell into the space between us, blocking the small opening. The building groaned and creaked, the sounds became muffled. I slumped against the prone body of my attacker, looking up at the ceiling.

That was the last I saw, before the ceiling gave way.


	3. Chapter 2 - Ongiri

**Kohaku's PoV**

"Kohaku!" I felt another fist slam into my side, and I doubled over in pain.

"S-stop it!" Another voice came. "Don't hurt her!"

"Quiet!" He shouted. "If we kill one of them, maybe the other will gain all our clan's power!"

"D-dad! No!" Kazuo shouted. "You know you can't do that! Kill me instead!"

"K...Kazuo..." I coughed, "S...stop!"

"Agh, it's no use." My father threw me from him. I fell into Kazuo's wake, crumpling to the floor. He cradled my head gently. His father turned and muttered, "I'm going. Clean this up."

"Kohaku..." Kazuo murmured. "Can you hear me?"

I screwed my eyes shut, and nodded.

"Where's... we should find Naoko..."

"Shh…" Kazuo whispered, "It's okay, Kohaku. I won't let anyone hurt you. We'll go find him, but first, we need to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." I patted his hand. "Just go find him, okay?"

He bit his lip, his eyes shining. Then, he put my head gently on the floor, and darted out of the door.

I turned over and winced, staring at the bruises on my arms. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep...

~{ღ}~

It was dark in the mountains. Usually, kids my age were wandering with their friends. We'd left Konoha behind a long time ago. People were afraid, though.

"Kohaku?"

I looked up. I was sitting in the small room, thinking. Naoko brought me out of my stupor.

He had dark, messy hair and green eyes. I blushed.

"What is it?"

"I was looking for you." He grinned, pulling himself inside. They kept me locked up a lot now. I looked down at my feet.

"You'll get in trouble again."

"I don't mind. Hey, I brought you ongiri." He dug in his pocket, bringing out the tiny parcel. He held it out to me. Slowly, I reached forward.

He grabbed my hand.

"Naoko. You have to go."

"I can't." He sighed. "Kazuo said I had to stay with you."

I groaned and leant my head back.

"He always says that. They let him out because he's a boy."

"Don't be like that." He giggled, shuffling over to sit next to me. "I know you love my company."

"Yeah." I rolled my eyes. He turned my head to look at him, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"It'll get better. I promise."

There was talking outside.

"I have to go." He said, pressing the ongiri into my hand. "Stay safe, okay?"

"Okay."

~{ღ}~

"Kohaku! Kazuo! Hurry!" Naoko grabbed my arm and pulled me into the small house, with Kazuo right behind us.

"Wha-?" Naoko pressed his hand over my mouth, whispering.

"No time to explain. Everyone is after you two...Dammit!" He cursed as the mob moved in front of the door.

"Give it up, Naoko!" Someone yelled.

"Hand those things over!" Another person screamed.

"Hand what things over?" Naoko yelled back, shoving odd pieces of furniture in front of the door. "There are no 'things' in here!"

"You know what we want. Naoko! You don't have to be against us. You are one of us!"

Naoko stopped for a second, and I touched his shoulder,

"Naoko..." He smiled, and held on to my hand and said to the crowd,

"Their names are Kohaku and Kazuo." He pulled himself up and started to uncover a trap door by the floor.

"You two need to escape." He said. "Go through the trap door. There should be a tunnel there and you'll find a lantern and some food near a wall. Whatever happens, don't wait up."

Kazuo looked shocked, "We can't-"

"Go." Naoko said to him. After a bit, Kazuo nodded.

I stared at them, "Kazuo?! We...We can't leave Naoko here by himself! They'll kill him!"

Kazuo sighed, "Kohaku... Naoko and I have already talked about this...We need to escape."

I glared at them, "Oh, so you men made plans without asking me. Great."

Naoko smiled sadly, "Kami, Kohaku...You never change..."

"Don't do this to me! You always do this to me!" I was close to tears. "You... I can't leave you! Kami, Naoko... I love you!"

Suddenly, he pressed his lips against mine, and pushed me back. His voice was husky, when he whispered,

"Kohaku...You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that." He laughed, "But when you do, we might never meet again."

"Don't talk like that, Naoko!" I yelled, "Don't say that!"

There was a sharp bang at the door and a piece of wood broke off. Someone's arm reached through towards us.

"Go! I'll catch up with you!" He pushed me towards Kazuo. His hand closed around mine for the last time.

"I love you."

~{ღ}~

There was silence.

Complete and utter silence.

Naoko was dead.

I couldn't look.

I couldn't see. There was just red.

Before I could move forward, Kazuo pulled me closer, hugging me tightly.

"They killed him." I whispered. I looked at my brother. Ashy blonde hair, brown eyes. He was crying. "They killed Naoko."


	4. Chapter 3 - Rain

**Kakashi**'**s PoV**

I missed Konoha. For one, in Konoha, it's dry. Here, we didn't get a break. Just more and more rain. The escort had got back home fine. No injuries. No Naruto stabbing himself in the hand. But there was a gap where he used to be.

For Kami's sake, you couldn't say his name without depressing Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura jogged over to my side. "Is there a problem?"

I gave a closed-eyed smile, "Nothing's wrong." Then dropped it. It's only wet, miserable and dreary.

Suddenly, at the front of the group, they stopped. The one we were escorting gasped.

"Is that a person?" he squeaked. I sighed and rolled my eyes. He'd been doing this the whole trip. Pointing at random things and saying they were dead bodies of assassins sent to kill him.

"It's not." Sakura said, a vein popping from her forehead, "It's not a body you idiot..." she muttered.

Our employer sat on the ground and refused to move.

"No! I insist you check! The assassin is lurking I tell you! Lurking..."

"Sakura, can you look?" I sighed. "I'm too tired for this."

She nodded and jogged to the front. I gave him a withering look.

"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!" She shouted. "Help!"

"I told you!" The escort crowed. "An assassin!"

I sent him another glare and ran up to her.

"What's wrong?"

He pointed to a woman lying on the ground. She had stab wounds all over her body and blood caked on her face. I pushed her matted blonde hair out of her face.

"She's losing a lot of blood," Sakura said. "The rain isn't helping. We have to stop for a while!"

"But-"

"Forget the escort!" I snapped. "We need to get out of the open."

Sakura nodded, and went to alert the rest of the group. I carried the girl back to the rest of the team.

She stirred a little, her small face scrunching up in pain. She didn't look any older than Sakura.

"Assassin! Assassin!" The escort shouted. "What are you doing?! We must kill it!"

"We need to heal her," I said bluntly. "We're stopping for a while. You can dock the money. It's fine."

"Here." Sakura said, pointing to a sheltered clearing of trees. A few drops of water dripped down as I nudged a tree. I knelt and sat her against a tree. As I sat back, I studied her. Sakura began to heal her, starting with her stomach. It was almost ripped open by knife wounds.

The girl muttered something I couldn't hear, and slumped back down.

Sakura let out a curse, "There are just so many wounds on her...I don't know if I

"You have to." I said simply. "Try."

I continued to watch as she healed the wounds.

She was about the same size as Sakura, possibly taller. Sakura was right. So many wounds...

Suddenly, she jerked up and grabbed Sakura's arm, "S..Stop." she hissed, "I don't need your help."

"Yes, you do." I said firmly. I caught her eye for a second. They were wide and startled, dark brown like chocolate, but also golden. "Who are you?"

"Leave me alone," She winced. "I don't need your help. You should just let me die,"

"No can do," I shook my head. "You can't be what, sixteen? Seventeen?"

"I'm twenty three."

"Oh."

Surprisingly enough, she didn't look offended. Only winced as Sakura tapped another gash in her back.

"Please, lie back down. You're losing too much blood." Sakura murmured, trying to push her back into her previous position.

"Leave it," she hung her head, her hair covering her face. "It's no use. I don't want to live."

"Of course you do." Sakura told her, "Everyone wants to live."

The girl laughed, "Then clearly you don't know me."

"What happened to you?" I ignored her statement. "Who attacked you?"

I caught sight of the spot in the rain where we'd found her. It must have been lying beneath her, but I could see it now. A long sword.

"You're... an assassin?" I gulped. "Aw, man."

She smirked, "Yes. It appears I am. Now, are you going to let me die here in peace or bring me back to your village for a public death?"

"Neither." I told her. "We're going to heal your wounds, bring you back to Konoha, and then let our Hokage decide." Well, not exactly in that order maybe, but it made sense.

She shrugged, "Do whatever." She hissed again as Sakura prodded her side.

"Sorry," Sakura said. There was a small silence, then a horrified noise from Sakura. I looked up. The woman was asleep again, with a small dribble of blood leaking out of her mouth, but it wasn't that which Sakura was gasping at.

It was the huge criss cross of scars, deep and long on her back. Her shirt was almost ripped to shred at the back, also showing a mark between her shoulder blades, shaped like two folded wings.

"S..Sensei?" Sakura said. She stared at the markings on her back, "What are those?"

"I don't know, Sakura. I don't know."


	5. Chapter 4 - Healing Wounds

**Kohaku's PoV**

I've slept in a lot of strange places in my life. Underneath wagons, in caves. But the weirdest has to be in a bed. I had no idea where I was; I felt like I was drowning. I resurfaced from sleep, clutching the sheet that was draped over me.

"Dammit..." I struggled to push myself into a sitting position, but flopped uselessly back onto the pillows.

I tried again, this time, grabbing a little railing on the side and slowly inching my body upwards. A harsh pain stabbed through my gut, making me grunt. How many times did I get stabbed anyway?!

I looked down. I wasn't in my old clothes: that was a little disturbing. In fact, I had no need for a shirt, all I had were bandages, covering my entire chest and looping over my shoulders. I was about to try again, when the door opened and I flopped down on the bed.

"You shouldn't be moving."

I rolled my eyes. Great. Now I couldn't see who was ordering me around. I rolled onto my side, hissing at the stabbing pain, and continued to ignore them. I felt a hand trying to turn me around. I grabbed it and twisted it at an unnatural angle.

"Get off me."

The hand was yanked back and I heard the person hiss in pain.

Good.

"It's not a good idea to fight with me." The woman's voice said as she walked around the bed to my level. "My name is Tsunade."

"I don't want to know your stupid name."

She glared at me and snapped on a pair of plastic gloves. She began to examine me, appraising my bruises and cuts. She sighed, pulled out a bottle of white pills, and looked at me.

"Open your mouth."

I glared back at her.

She sighed, and picked up some medicine-looking pill. "Just eat it."

I stared at her. Did she think I was stupid or something?

She sighed again, "It's just medicine. It will help."

At my refusal, she began to start poking and prodding my wounds, healing as she went along. She told me to flip over, and by then I was too annoyed to resist.

"I don't want to get better." I grunted.

"Everyone wants to get better." She said, "They've just lost hope in it's possibility."

"Well, I don't."

"You do. You just don't know it."

She turned me over and I heard a small gasp. "How did you get these scars?"

"None of your business." I snapped. "Leave me alone. Leave me to die."

"I can't do that." she shook her head. "I took time to treat you. You're an interesting case."

"I'm not interesting."

"Just let me heal you."

"I want to sleep." I whined. Her face appeared near mine. I raised an eyebrow. "So that's why you took time out. Didn't know the Godaime Hokage swung that way."

Her glare grew stronger. "So, you know where you are?"

I didn't reply, closing my eyes.

She sighed and sat on a chair beside my hospital bed. "Why don't you just talk to me? It will make things easier."

"Will you torture me if I refuse?" I shot back. She sighed again.

"We won't torture you, no. You've had enough of that-" My turn to glare. A small smile tugged the corner of her mouth upwards. "But instead we're going to keep you here. You won't be healed for a while. You'll be under constant surveillance from Kakashi Hatake."

Now, that, was an ominous name. I recognised it, but didn't remember. I relaxed back, sighing.

"What if I try to leave?"

"You won't get far."

"You don't know me then."

I heard a strange noise and turned to stare.

The Hokage was laughing.

"Clearly, you don't know Kakashi."

"Nah. I recognise the name, but nothing else."

"He's the one who found you."

"Craaaaaaaaaaaap."

She smiled, "You won't be able to run from him."

Suddenly, the name clicked in my head. "The copy ninja." I smirked.

She gave me a strange look, "What's so funny."

I smiled, "It's the copy ninja. Some cheap clone won't be able to stop me."

"I assure you, he's the real thing... Your name?"

That caught me by surprise.

"Don't change the subject."

"You sound like you're used to this?"

"Yes. I'm often found, half dead in the Rain, dragged back my Konoha ninjas and annoyed by the Hokage. Happens everyday!"

She scowled, "Fine. I understand, but we do need to know your name."

"And why is that? My name isn't really important in the scheme of things."

"I'd like to call you by name, otherwise it will be rather awkward. I saw the kanji on your bracelet. Kotori. But no one knows Kotori's real name. An honour, I'm sure, to meet her - you, but still."

I smirked. "Ehh."

She stared at me now, fully serious. "What is your name, though?"

I turned away and looked out the window. She asked again.

"I gave up that name a long time ago."

She put a hand on my shoulder, "Then maybe it's time to get it back."

"Help me stand up?" I said, trying to smile a little. She took my arm firmly, letting me slide out. My legs buckled a little, but she supported me.

"You're... small." she raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up." I gritted my teeth. "I just want to walk... window..."

She guided me towards the window, and I looked outside.

"Your n-" I knew she was going to ask. I sighed.

"There's no need for you to know. It's just a name. Like a title, it will eventually be worthless."

"It's not worthless." she said softly. "What if someone wants to find you? Someone from a long time ago?"

"No one's looking for me." I sighed. I had no idea why I was getting so emotional. I'd been so close, so close to seeing him again...

"Your name?"

"Kohaku... Endoso."


	6. Chapter 5 - Pride and Dignity

**Kohaku's PoV**

"This is not fair," I growled, sitting up. I'd been in this stupid room for almost a week, with the stupid Hokage poking me and prodding me. Stupid Hokage. Stupid Konoha. Stupid Kakashi. I'd only met him once and I didn't like him. And that was when I was half dead.

"Your wounds are healing." The Hokage said, "But there's still a lot of internal bleeding. I'm not sure how, but a lot of your body will be permanently damaged.

I rolled my eyes, "Just say I'm going to have scars. Don't sweeten words for me."

"You'll have scars then." she shrugged. "A few on your stomach. Nothing you can't handle though."

"That's rather suggestive of you."

"Maybe."

"I want to go!" I whined, fiddling with the covers. "Let me go!"

"Fine, fine."

She grabbed a bag off a medical cart and gave me a stern look. "One white pill every day, and a blue one every week. The white ones should help staunch the pain, and the blue ones will speed up the healing process."

I nodded, pretending to listen. She raised an eyebrow,

"I hope you were listening."

"Of course I was."

"When do you take them then?"

"One white every day, one blue every week. No promises they're not going out of the window though~!"

She glared at me again and sighed. "Just do what you want..."

"Why thank you. I was going to anyway." I sighed. It was getting tiring, arguing with her all the time. I wanted to leave. I was so tired. I knew I couldn't trust anyone.

"Well then, let's go meet your 'guard'." I smirked as she said that. Good. She's finally being blunt.

She helped me up to my feet. As I stood up, I felt a sharp stab in my back and fell forward. She grabbed my arm to steady me and sighed once more.

"You really should stay in the hospital."

"But I don't want to." I mumbled. I felt crushed. "Please, let me outside. I have to go outside." I was begging her, I was desperate.

"We'll make some other arrangements." she sighed, her eyes softening a little. I gulped.

"Like what?"

"Well, you'll have to stay in bed for a long time, but you'll be out of hospital."

Some comfort that was.

I huffed, limping away from her and tripping after about three steps.

"What is this?!" I whined. "I can't even walk!"

Glaring, she walked over and helped me up, muttering something.

After a while of continuous walking, tripping, and being glared at, she finally stopped.

"Here. We wait here. I got you slightly later than I should, he's always late anyway."

"That's comforting." I muttered, folding my arms. I was still swathed in bandages, making me shiver. She'd given me a short tunic-like shirt so thin, it was like paper. It only just covered my stomach and shoulders; you could see the thick bandages. I wore thin shorts too.

After a few minutes, I shifted again, to look at Tsunade accusingly. "I'm cold."

She stared at me, "You can deal with it."

I stared back. "I'm ill."

Suddenly, there was a soft chuckle behind us.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I just got lost on the path of life."

Tsunade scowled, "Kakashi! Late again?"

"This place is full of nutcases," I groaned. If I wasn't shivering so violently, I'd have punched a wall.

I do not like being cold.

"Quiet," Tsunade said. "Kakashi, she can barely walk, but she won't stop asking to leave. Just take her. She's impossible."

"Impossible? I'm honoured."

I finally turned to see this 'Kakashi'. He was tall, with the strangest hair I had ever seen. It was silver, and stuck up in a perfect diagonal line. Gravity defiant hair.

"Him." I hissed. "I hate you all. You're all crazy."

"I understand that the clan you come from is a travelling one. You wouldn't understand villages like this."

"I'm not an idiot." I snapped.

"I never said that." He said mildly.

"Well, if you're going to be a coward and cover most of your face all the time, I don't think I'll trust you on that."

He gave a closed eyed smile, scratching the back of his head. "Then that's your decision."

"I don't like him." I muttered to myself, kicking at a rock. Tsunade was still holding onto me.

"Just take her." she snapped to him. I looked at her, then him. Then back to her.

"Touch me and you're de-"

My legs left the ground and I was lifted into the air.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, pounding my fists into his back. "Let go!"

He turned to Tsunade. "I'll take her off your hands, Lady Hokage."

"Hey!" I snapped. "Hokage lady!"

She laughed, "Don't worry about it. You'll be fine."

I huffed and folded my arms. "I can at least try to walk."

He looked down at me. "You can try."

I looked around. Tsunade was gone.

The silver haired man smiled. "Well then, now it's just you and me. You're Kohaku, right?"

I didn't reply.

"I'll let you walk." He sighed, letting me down. My legs buckled, and he caught my waist. I glared up at him. He had to bend slightly.

"One word about my height-"

He smiled, "You're short."

I glared at him, and then turned, stalking off.

And tripping.

"You need some help?" He said in my ear, grabbing my wrist. "You've been immobile too long, your legs are weak."

"Let go!" I snapped. "I'm fine!" He released my wrist, sending me sprawling to the ground. He relaxed and watched as I tried to struggle to my feet. I glared daggers at him.

"H...Help me." I muttered.

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What was that?"

I scowled. "I won't say it again. Help me, dammit."

He smiled, "Of course." And swept me up into his arms, 'princess-style'.

"_What the hell?!_" I yelled. "Put me down!"

He shrugged impassively. "You asked for help."

"Yeah, but I don't want to be carried." I sighed. He shrugged.

"It's just this once. We can work on the walking thing after."

"Oh, that's comforting." I said angrily. He carried on walking, falling into a slow rhythm.

"Come on." He said cheerfully, "I'm not that bad."

I stared at him.

"No, you're worse."


	7. Chapter 6 - Sweet Dreams

**Kakashi's PoV**

She was so light, like a feather. She stirred in her sleep, curling her body into a foetal position. Which was kind of awkward, because I was still walking. Instead, I let her sleep, carrying her carefully. Arguing and generally being annoying must have tired her out.

As I neared the apartment complex, I pulled out my keys. After unlocking my door, I went to hers and tried to unlock it.

Shit. Wrong key.

In her sleep, she whined, like a small animal. I sighed. Tsunade said she couldn't walk. I didn't want to admit it, but as much as she tried, she couldn't look after herself right now. Even though she was rather bratty, and refused to admit it, I'd have to give up. I kicked open my own door gently, guiding myself in carefully. Her head lolled. Now that she didn't have blood plastered on her face, she was kind of cute. I wasn't going to be telling her that.

She had that kind of mouth that fell into a tiny pout, no matter how hard she tried to look angry. Her eyes were absolutely huge, even though they were closed. Her eyelashes were long and even, fanning over her high cheeks slightly. A small lock of ashy-blonde hair fell over her forehead.

I sighed, placing her on my bed, and moving toward the couch.

No matter how cute she was, this still wasn't fair.

~{ღ}~

About an hour passed, and I was still awake, staring at the ceiling. I heard a soft whimper, and turned towards the bed. She was stirring again, kicking weakly, like a baby. I rolled my eyes and propped my head up on my hand.

Suddenly, she started crying. Really crying. Huge racking sobs ran through her small body, and she curled into a ball, shivering. I swung my legs around and sat up. The cries grew louder. She was like a baby. I shuffled over, apprehensive. Touching her upper arm gently, I felt how warm she was. Feverishly warm.

"Hey, Kohaku." I shook her gently. "Wake up. You're okay."

She stared at me with wide eyes. They were glazed over and I could tell she was awake, but not registering anything.

"They're gone..." She whispered. "All of them...gone..." I stared in confusion, and she continued.

"It's my fault. All my fault..." A tear slipped down her cheek. "They died because of me."

"Hey, wake up." I poked her cheek gently. She didn't react.

"Blood... my brother... Naoko..."

"Wake up!" I said, slightly harsher than I meant to. She blinked her huge brown eyes, not reacting.

I slipped my hand under her back, making her sit up. She yelled.

"Hey! Hey, calm down!"

"Get off me!" she shouted. "What are you doing?!"

Ah, so she was awake.

"You were sleepwalking." I lied. "I was trying to wake you up."

"Then, how come I'm sitting here?" she said venomously. She was definitely back to normal. I wanted to ask her questions. Who was gone? Why was it her fault? Who was Naoko?

"You fell when I tried to wake you up."

She scowled, "Liar." Then, her cheeks heated up. "Could you let go of me?"

I pulled back and she let out a breath. Then her glare turned back on.

"So, care to explain yourself?"

I sighed. "I was trying to rape you. Happy?"

"Liar." she didn't blink. "Just let go of me. Where am I, anyway?"

I let go of her and she sank back, folding her arms.

"You're at mine. You were asleep and I couldn't find your key to get into your new place."

"Oh, I have a place?" she looked gleeful. "That's good. No rape?"

"No rape," I shook my head, grinning. If she could see, under my mask. I realised. She was always smiling, or frowning. Nothing in between. Only her dreams had shown me what she was truly thinking. Underneath the surface, in her mind, what was happening? What was she going through, every day? I didn't tell her that I felt sorry for her.

It's a cliché. She was in my apartment, in my bed. Like a damsel in distress. She really shouldn't have been there, but I didn't want to leave her. I really didn't*.

"Go back to sleep. I'll get you to yours tomorrow." I smiled, poking her cheek. She growled.

"Don't tell me what to do." But she was yawning. She leaned back, her eyes closing.

***Hey. I know it's one of those annoying things about Naruto fan fictions, but I had the idea and it wouldn't go away. Cuddling? Ain't gonna happen if they're not living together, at least for a while. I'll move her soon. Laters~**


	8. Chapter 7 - The Annoyances of Youth

**Kohaku's PoV**

Sharing space with a man was annoying.

For one, he had no sense of privacy. Always randomly barging into the room and getting his stuff.

The indignity.

I mean, I was being quick. Really quick. It was cold, I hurt and I wanted to be warm, no matter how thin the clothes he'd found for me were. They were huge on me: worn and torn. I felt like a child in hand-me-downs again.

Okay, maybe he didn't barge. He had this way of moving, slouchy and lazy, almost graceful. It's not like I was looking, anyway.

I was not a happy Kohaku when he walked in and stared.

"Do you mind?" I snapped, covering my front. I was facing away from him, but he made no sound or movement.

After a long silence, I looked towards him. "What?"

He kept on staring. "What happened to your back?"

It dawned on me. "None of your business." I snapped, covering my back with a blanket. "Do you _mind_?"

"Uh..."

I remembered the books. And the line about rape, last night.

"You have three seconds before I kill you."

"Well, seeing as you're only wearing my old shorts and a blanket-"

"Shut up." I hissed. I don't know. I snapped. Somewhere, inside, I snapped. Or broke.

He turned away and raised his hands in defeat. "I'm sorry." After another couple moments of silence, he said, "Let's get you some real clothes."

I didn't reply. He sighed,

"Are you coming or what?"

I got up.

~{ღ}~

"It's cold."

"No, it's not."

"Let me re-phrase. I am cold."

"Then that's your problem."

I huffed, stuffing my arms into the thin, oversize coat draped around my body. "This place is so cold!"

"It's summer, Kohaku. Where do you come from, Iwa?"

"I come from lots of places." I sniffed. He gave me a weird look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Before I had to think of an awkward answer, his eye narrowed. "Great. Here comes Gai."

"Gai...?"

"Hello, my eternal rival, Kakashi!" I turned to see the strangest sight.

The biggest, most bushy eyebrows that I had ever seen.

"Oh?" He turned to me and winked, flashing his bright white teeth. "Kakashi, you have a girlfriend?" He winked again, "She has such youth!"

"He's... his... what...?" I said, staring at my feet.

I do not like other people. Kakashi, I could put up with to a degree: it wasn't as if he was enjoying our time together. The sooner he got rid of me, the better.

But this man...

I could feel a vein popping in my head. He annoyed me already. "Girlfriend...?"

I was still too shocked to say anything.

"Well? Are you going to introduce me, your eternal rival?!"

Kakashi facepalmed, "Kohaku, meet Gai. The idio-Ahem. Never mind..."

"Yes. Never mind. I am going to leave. I want to leave." I announced. "This village is weird."

"Weird?" Bushy eyebrows...I mean Gai, struck a pose, "What could you possible mean?!"

Giant eyebrow.

Bowl cut hair.

Creepily Sparkling smile.

And I haven't even got to the green jumpsuit yet.

And he was striking a pose. Did this guy have minions too?

"Oh, I don't know." I deadpanned. "What could possibly be weird."

"You're weird," Kakashi announced. "You're like, frozen in time. You look about fifteen."

I glared at him, then stopped glaring, then glared again. I couldn't decide whether that was a compliment or an insult...

"Her face moves a lot."

I growled, "You have five seconds."

"Wha-?"

"Four."

"What are you?"

"Three."

"Is this the countdown of youth?"

I gave an irritated sigh, "No, the countdown of death. Two."

He paled. "That's not...youthful..."

"It's the circle of life. Grumpy midgets eat green beasts." Kakashi sighed, grabbing my arm. "Kohaku, let's go!"

"Do I have clothing?" I said, grinning. Gai blanched.

"Kakashi! That is not youthful!"

"It's not like that!"

"Well, he does read weird books."

"Not helping, midget."

I crossed my arms, rooting myself to the ground. "No. Buy me clothes. Then I will be silent."

"Kakashi!" Gai gasped. "You- you-"

"Shut _up_!"

"How un-youthful!"

I sighed, "This youth thing is getting really irritating..."

"It is?"

"Yes."

"Apoligies, fair maiden of youth. I will not let Kakashi violate you any more!

"I was assigned to be her... guard thing." Kakashi tried. "She... so she doesn't try to escape here."

"Then you are an even bigger scoundrel! I expected more of you, my eternal rival!"

"Why am I scoundrel?" Kakashi said, perplexed.

Gai waved his arms around, exasperated. "The things you must have done to her! She has no clothes, and she-"

Kakashi didn't move as I ran up and kicked him in the face.

"You'll exert yourself, Kohaku."

"I'm angry."

"Yes, but exerting yourself is not necessary..."

Gai paled. "Perhaps...you...were a willing part?!"

I kicked him again. Harder.

"No! He's creepy! And..." I trailed off, thinking back to last night. I lowered my leg, folding my arms. "I don't want to talk about it."

That wasn't nice to think about. Not now.

"I knew it!" Gai yelled, punching Kakashi. "You bestial fiend! Violating a young woman an-"

"He did nothing!" I shouted. "Leave it!"

Because Naoko's dead. And I loved him.


	9. Chapter 8 - Bad Girl

**Kakashi's PoV**

The travelling clan were the ones to break the quiet monotony.

I'd lost everything. I didn't want to feel sorry for myself, but it still hurt. One by one, everyone had left an aching gap in my heart.

And now I was turning into a pretentious poet. Great.

I spent most of the time outside of missions — they came rarely now, with half the village task force destroyed — wandering in the woods.

And that was how I found the tree.

Most of the trees in the woods were big, good for running. But this one, at the end of a huge clearing, towered over the rest. It looked like it belonged in the Forest of Death. Vines wrapped around its huge trunk, like when you try to see how far your arms fit around someone.

I'd never done that. I'd gotten used to the solitude, which had been broken momentarily by my team.

They'd left pretty quickly.

The village was filled with sad faces, injured shinobi, and crying babies. I was a little irritated when this clan came. There were loads of them, all with huge golden brown eyes. Their skin was darker than ours, tanned from travel.

I stared up at the tree, hands deep in my pockets. A bright shaft of sunlight made me squint my remaining eye, filling my world with bright kaleidoscope colours. When the light moved on, I could see someone swinging from one of the higher branches.

I studied the trunk. It must have be near impossible for anyone to get up there, even a shinobi. The trunk was slippery and twisted.

Even so, they were swinging there.

"Kazuo!" A girl's voice shouted. "They'll be angry!"

"They can't find me!" He said happily, letting go of the branch. He alighted on a thicker branch, folding his arms.

I rolled my eyes. They were Endoso, one of the travelling clan. They'd broken away from their rules for a while.

If they'd seen me, they didn't know it. Kazuo was joined by another boy, with dark hair. They looked about eleven, not even genin.

Someone poked me in the arm. When I looked down, I saw a girl. She had sparkling brown eyes, most of her face covered by the tawny blonde hair, like her brother's.

"Who are you, old man?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Old man?"

"You have old man hair, like baa—sama." She nodded to herself, folding her arms over her skinny front. "Who are you?"

"I'm from the village." I folded my own arms. "Shouldn't a little kid like you be with your mommy?"

She glared at me, stepping closer to me. "My mother's dead, Hatake."

I blinked. She knew my name?

"Kohaku!" Kazuo jumped down. He was a little taller than his sister, but they were almost identical.

The second boy followed, shaking his head.

"We should get back soon, you know what they're like." He said quietly. When he turned to me, his eyes were almost devoid of any emotion. He drew closer to Kohaku, grabbing her wrist.

"I don't want to go," she begged. "Please, Naoko. You'll be fine."

"But... my dad got angry again!" Naoko hung his head. "Please, Kohaku."

"You seriously don't care about him, do you?" She said, tilting her head to side. Her hip slid to the right, showing her in a contrary, troublesome gesture.

"You're a bad girl, Kohaku. They—" he stopped himself, seeing me again. "You won't tell on us?"  
I shrugged. "Nothing to tell."

"See?!" Kohaku sang, laughing. Her feet almost left the ground.

"Fine." Naoko grinned, not letting go of her arm. He pulled her towards the tree. There was a blink of an eye, and she was gone.

Kazuo gave me one nod, then left.

~{ღ}~

She'd run off again. I couldn't find her anywhere. I knew she wouldn't leave the village, she wasn't able to get that far yet.

I slipped out of my window, walking along the low roof. On top of the building, her legs dangling above the abyss, Kohaku sat. She drew the blanket around her, teeth gritted.

"You're a bad girl, Kohaku."

Her head whipped around. "Oh. It's you."

There wasn't much warmth left in her voice.

"I thought it was too cold for you?" I sat next to her. She shrugged.

"I s'pose it's the clothes you bought. Thank you." She cast her eyes down, muttering the last words. I chuckled.

"I think Sakura's going to come and check on you tomorrow."

"I thought I'd got rid of them!" She groaned.

"You left the hospital early. They still want to check on you. You'll like Sakura. She's violent too."

"I'm not violent!"

"Well, Gai does get that kind of reaction."

There was silence. I cast her a side long glance. When I'd first spoken, she'd turned around so quickly. Did Naoko always say that to her? Was he... dead?

"You're shivering again." I muttered. "You should get inside."

She shrugged. "If I freeze out here, I don't care."

"Ah, but then I'll get in trouble. Come on."

I hopped up. She got up, dumping the blanket on me.

"Thank you, slave." She grinned, walking to the door. "And, Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"I remember, too."


	10. Chapter 9 - Ice and Blood

**Kohaku's PoV**

After a while, it was like I was frozen. I'd simple stopped caring. I'd stopped investing in things, nothing could ever really make an impression on me. If I didn't get too involved, I'd be fine.

"You're a bad girl, Kohaku."

It was incredibly stupid. My life was one huge, messed up metaphor for those beings we call angels.

If Kazuo was the good angel, that made me the bad one.

The one who got people killed. The one who killed. The one who was left behind when everyone else found peace.

I felt bitter.

Life was one stupid citrus.

That night, I let the oily liquid of sleep take me. Now, I was feverishly hot. I just wanted to be alone, but I could always feel an eye on me. Like a child again. And sneaking away was even harder. And it was lonely.

Have you ever felt despair so deep, you can't move? Loneliness so profound, you want to die?  
I have. For so long.

I wanted to be a child again.

It was dark. My hands felt stiff, and all I could smell was the copper of fresh blood. When I looked down, my hands were covered in shadows. Like water, I felt the air rise up. When it got to my throat,

I began to breath heavily. My feet were lifted off the ground, and I cried out. My arms were snapped to my sides. I was going to drown.

The power of language had left me. My shoulders felt like they were going to crack with the strain. I coughed, the choking liquid filling my mouth.

Blood. I was drowning in blood. The copper taste slid around my mouth. I was breathing heavily, the red rising up to my nose.

"Kohaku! Grab my hand!"

I looked around, and there he was. His dark hair fell in front of his face, the cheeky grin still plastered on his face. I gasped for air. He was dead. I'd killed him. No. He was dead because of me.

Now he was Kazuo. "Kohaku!"

I reached out my hand, slick and slippery with the blood. His hand went forward...

And pushed my head further into the depths. I yelled, the blood filling my mouth. My eyes were forced shut.

"Kohaku!"

A firm hand encircled my waist, pulling me away from the tangled bed. Kakashi pushed my head into his shoulder, letting my breathing slow. I dug my hand into his shoulder, shaking.

I gulped for air, resting my hand on his front. He kicked the sheets away from me. The cool night air hit me like a sledge hammer, and I took a deep breath.

"Thank you."

There was silence as he rocked us back and forth. Back... forwards... back...

I pulled my hand away from him, cheeks burning. When I looked up at him, his eyes were half closed. I shifted, but his arm didn't move.

"Just... don't." He murmured. "You can sleep."

I sighed, leaning into him. My back and stomach hurt like hell, I must have twisted around like crazy. My eyes closed, my breathing becoming even slower.

After a while, I felt Kakashi lower himself back, lying flat on the bed. I didn't move, apart from the scarce breathing. When he pulled over the cover, I moved to curl into a ball, not moving my arms.

They were linking me to the anchor.

He smelt sweet — not sickly sweet, like blueberries and a little bit of dog. I didn't mind.

As I drifted off to sleep, all I could see was Naoko's smiling face.

Why had I told them my name?


	11. Chapter 10 - Awkward

**Warning: This chapter was awkward to write.**

Kakashi's PoV  
  
The next day, no one mentioned it. Her smell still hung in the air around me when I woke up, warm and mellow. Like vanilla.

Something was holding her back. Even after she'd calmed down, she had fought it. She was fighting something, deep down.

And I knew that it wasn't an _it_. It was a he. A boy. The boy called Naoko. She'd muttered his name once, as well as Kazuo.

They were dead. It was obvious. They'd been killed, leaving her behind. And somehow, she thought it was her fault.

For about an hour, she sat on the floor with her back to the couch, cross legged. She said nothing. I sprawled on the couch, reading, ever so often, I'd glance at her out of the corner of my eye, but she didn't move.

When Sakura knocked on the door, she didn't blink. I slipped off the couch, yawning.

She'd grown again, I noticed. I'd found myself thinking of the team fondly, but then my thoughts would stray to Sasuke and then... depression.

"Morning, Kakashi—sensei!" She chirped. I shrugged, letting her pass. I closed the door behind her.

Kohaku eyed Sakura warily.

"I have the next pills." She said, rummaging in her bag. She put them on the side. "You haven't done anything to rip the stitches?"

I coughed, masking my laughter. Kohaku shrugged.

"Maito Gai is very kickable. You can get carried away."

Sakura grinned. "Have you met Lee?"

Kohaku shook her head. "No,"

"He's like Gai's clone—"

"I knew he had minions." Kohaku muttered, cracking her knuckles.

"He's annoying,"

I sighed, suddenly feeling sorry for Lee. His love was doomed to be unrequited. Unless, if he liked it when Sakura beat him up.

"Apart from kicking?"

There was silence. Kohaku folded her arms.

"Maybe. I don't want to go into details."

I caught Sakura's eye, glaring slightly. She nodded.

"If you have ripped any stitches, I can't check here. Kakashi—sensei is weird."

Weird as in perverted. Just because I liked good literature.

Kohaku blinked. "What do you mean?"

Sakura held out her arm. "Lady Tsunade says I have to take you to a bath house."

Okay, now I was dead.

~{ღ}~

"Kakashi!" Izumo waved, stretching. "What are you doing here?"

I folded my arms. "Mission."

"A mission which requires bathing?" Kotetsu joined in. "Wow, they're letting you have it easy lately, Hatake."

I sighed, making the cloth I'd fastened in front of my face flap. Kotetsu slid a little closer.

"Sora came with us to the bath house~" he cackled.

I raised an eyebrow. "You've seen her na—"

"Shush!" Izumo growled, slapping a hand over my masked mouth. "That was a long time ago, when we were all little children. She's grown into a very attractive lady."

Kotetsu sighed. Izumo glared at him. They'd been competing for Sora's affections for years, but she seemed to enjoy keeping them hanging. I knew that on the other side of the wall was the women's.

I was proud of myself. I'd been forced to come, because of the mission (believe me, neither Kohaku or I really wanted to come), and now I was being... Un—perverted. Maybe it was because the line about rape was still hanging in the air.

Sure, Kohaku was cute.

And kind of cuddly.

Okay, she was adorable.

With a sharp tongue on her. Izumo pulled me closer to the plaster wall.

"Behind this plank is a hole. You can see right in." He said wisely, "Watch and learn."  
Kotetsu pulled the plank away. I stretched, shaking water from my head. Izumo grabbed my head, and I was forced to the far end of the hole.

They were all there. I felt weird. Sakura was still my student, almost equal. And she was much younger than me.

But there were more females in our age range. Sakura hadn't emerged yet. In the corner of the huge tub sat Sora, a childhood friend. She was a good Chunin. Her navy blue hair flowed in the water. She raised her arms above her head, yawning. Kotetsu whistled. Izumo hit him.

"Quiet!"

Kotetsu pushed my face even closer to the wall, smooshing my face to the side. My nose hurt.

"Hello, Sora." Kotetsu whispered. "Woah."

"I told you, quiet!"

There was silence. Then, the sound of chatter. Sakura walked into the steamy room, the towel still clutched around her. I prayed I'd never have to meet my student's parents.

Then, Kohaku.

"Who's that?" Izumo wriggled closer. "She's cute."

I silently cursed myself. Yes. She was cute. Now go away, Izumo.

"If you take her, do I get Sora?"

"In your dreams." Kotetsu snorted. I gulped.

Though Kohaku was the same height as Sakura, she definitely looked older. Around the chest—y area.

Kotetsu gave another low whistle.

"You should be put away for harassing minors!" I hissed.

"Oh, yeah. Sakura." Izumo nodded. "Who's the other one?"

"Kohaku," I let her name slip out. Kotetsu grinned at me.

"You know her?"

"Not like that," I babbled.

"Not like _what_?"

"I have to sort of guard her until she's healed." I let the words tumble over each other. "She keeps trying to run away. She's an ex—assassin. She hates this place because it's cold and everyone's weird. And she's cute."

I didn't mean to say the last bit. Izumo frowned.

"Aww. If I'd known she was taken—"

"Oh, she's not taken. You can have her." I grunted. Kotetsu pushed me back towards the wall.

Kohaku definitely hated the cold. Her skin was dark in comparison to Sakura's, tanned. She was angled towards the tub, not showing her back. The towel slipped a little.

"Rawr." Kotetsu said quietly.

Sakura made her sit on the side. Her towel slid up, showing definitely... impressive legs. She slipped into the water, barely making a ripple.

"Aaaaaand, there goes the towel." Izumo whispered. "So she isn't taken? What's she like?"

I thought for a moment. "She's kinda calm. But when she's cold she has a short fuse. And she's impatient, but she doesn't show much in her face. If she's pissed with you, you're already dead. And I wouldn't try anything. She's... hurting, right now."

Kotetsu stared at me.

"Kakashi... that was deep,"

Kohaku's face was completely blank, but then it slid into an awkward smile. Sakura made her turn around, making Kotetsu and Izumo practically faint. I didn't exactly feel uncomfortable, either.

"Ooh." Kotetsu said. Kohaku's scars were definitely fading, but at the top of her shoulder blades were two wing shaped marks. More like a tattoo.

Her hair fell in tendrils around her face. She bit her lips to stop herself from saying anything as Sakura examined her back. Kotetsu gave a dreamy sigh.

"You're one lucky guy, Kakashi." Izumo clicked his tongue. I glared at him.

Technically, Kohaku was lost. It wasn't as if I hadn't thought about it.

There was silence.

"Are you going to let me go now?" I hissed, as Kohaku turned around. She was exactly bad looking, anywhere.

"Fine." Kotetsu said, letting go of my head, "Boring."

I slipped back into the main tub, submerging myself.

I blew a few discontented bubbles, feeling sorry for myself.


	12. Chapter 11 - Fruits Basket

**Kohaku's PoV  
**  
I really, really hate the cold. As soon as I stepped out of the bath house, the air hit me, hard. For once, it wasn't cold enough to make me shiver, but still cold. I'd asked Sakura about this. She'd said it was a side effect of the pills I was taking. At least it wasn't just me.

Life here was kind of sleepy. I supposed that was because I couldn't really get away with the whole assassin thing, so I didn't have anything to do.

I wondered why they did it. Why they became shinobi. They lived doing jobs, fighting and dying for other people. And their own honour, of course. But didn't it get lost, after a while? Was there any change?

I shook my head to clear it.

The days were short, and I'd spent most of the day putting off coming out of that steamy haven.  
I was bored.

Usually, if I'd just done a job for someone mildly important, I'd go out and get someone to buy me drinks. I wondered how long I'd have to run off before Kakashi found me.

And there it was. My ticket out of here resembled two males, both with bowl haircuts and sporting hideous green suits and orange legwarmers. I wandered up to Gai.

"Hi."

"Hello, Kohaku!" He said, grinning. "Have you met my student, Lee?"

"No, I haven't!" I said, grinning back. "It's nice to meet you, Lee!"

Lee bowed, almost bending himself in half.

"Where you headed, Gai?" I said, beginning to walk with them. I checked over my shoulder quickly.

Just as Kakashi left the building, we rounded a corner. I found myself linking arms with Lee.

"We are going to get sake! Lee has just breached a new barrier in his training, and I want him to show me his Drunken Fist!"

"Sounds good." I said. "Can I come with?"

"Of course!" Lee gave me a thumbs up. I vomited mentally.

There was the sound of running footsteps. I tensed, waiting for Kakashi to stop me.

"Hey, Gai!" Two voices chorused. I turned around, seeing two men. One of them had chin length hair and a hat, the other had spiky hair and a tape across his nose.

"Izumo, Kotetsu! Would you like to join us?"

Their gaze slid to me for a second. "Sure. Sora, hurry up!"

Sora, a slim woman with long navy blue hair ran up.

"Kakashi's looking for you," she said mildly. I blinked.

"But I want to go with these guys."

"And that you shall!" Lee cheered. "We shall all go for sake!"

Gai cheered.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm.

"Ah, well. It was worth a try." I sighed. I turned to face Kakashi, pouting.

"Kakashi! Join us for sake!" Gai bowed. "We are all going!"

Kakashi shot me a side ways look. I shrugged.

"Come on, Kakashi," Izumo said slyly. "It'll be fun!"

Kakashi didn't let go of my arm, but nodded,

"Thank you!" I grinned, pulling on his arm. He didn't move that fast. I sighed impatiently, hooking my

hand through his elbow. Sora laughed, linking arms with both of the other men.

For a moment, I felt happy.

~{ღ}~

I swung my arms in a circle. Gai looked even funnier.

"You're a— you're a— a YOUTHFUL FRUITBOWL." I giggled. "We should play Fruits Basket! Kakashi, you're the ongiri!"

"I don't wanna play!" He whined.

"I know what we should play," Kotetsu sang, "Izumo, the BOTTLE OF DOOM, PLEASE."

"You're all weirdos." I said happily, burrowing my head under Kakashi's arm. "I'm a rabbit!"

"We're going to play Spin the Bottle!" Izumo shouted. "Or... I wanna play Pocky."

"No. Spin the Bottle." Kotetsu snatched the empty bottle from his friend. I shook my head a little, the rosy haze clearing a little.

"What's Spin the Bottle?" I shuffled closer to Sora.

"Your accent is adorable!" She said, pinching my cheek. "Spin the Bottle is where you spin the bottle and there is kissing."

"I don't think I like this game," I said stiffly. She giggled.

"Give it a try, Haku—chan!"

I shrugged, pulling up my legs. I sat cross legged, watching the bottle spin. It landed on Izumo.  
There were a few claps.

The bottle spun again. It slowed by Sora, making Izumo grin. But then it slipped past her, landing on Kotetsu. The grin dropped off his face.

"Go on," Sora ordered. Kotetsu glared at Izumo. They shuffled towards each other, and shared a quick kiss.

Kotetsu went to drown himself in sake.

The bottle spun again, landing on Gai.

Then, Kakashi. He looked like a startled animal. Sora waved her hands like a conductor, ushering them together. Lee clapped as Gai pecked Kakashi's cheek, un—ashamed.

There was silence as the bottle spun again.

It landed on Kakashi again. He groaned. "Again?!"

Sora paused to give him a disapproving look. She spun the bottle gently, and it took its time.

Until it landed on me.

"What?" I glared at the bottle. Sora laughed.

"Go on~"

There was a stunned silence. I didn't move as Kakashi shuffled closer.

"Oh," Sora gasped. I didn't know what was happening until I felt warm lips on mine. They were slightly chapped, from the cloth he always wore. As if I was on auto—pilot, I threaded my arms around his neck, pulling him a little closer to me. I gasped into the kiss, getting a small taste of the alcohol. His tongue ran across my bottom lip, inviting mine to play. I obliged, barely thinking.

His hands gripped my waist. I couldn't hear what was going on around me apart from buzzing voices. They were continuing, but I didn't want to stop.

I moaned quietly, as he pulled me even closer to him. It was like we were melting together. I let my hand stray to his cheek, stroking it. There was no mask, definitely. No one said anything.

His tongue won, touching the top of my own mouth. I whined as he bit my lip a little.

"Okay, break it up. That's enough!" Kotetsu said, pulling on Kakashi's arm.

I pulled away from his lips, cheeks burning. Kakashi pulled the mask back, folding his arms.

"It was your idea anyway."

They continued with the game. Sora gave me a cheeky grin.

"Did you enjoy that?"

I shrugged. "Didn't really concentrate."

She giggled, whispering in my ear. "You were like that for ages. You should have seen Lee's face. Poor innocent boy."

I blushed.

"You were like seriously making out, Haku—chan. Tension, much?"

My blush spread like a fire. "I don't know. It's complicated."

She gave me a knowing look, and went back to watching the game.

The next kiss of the night was Izumo and Sora. It was my turn to laugh at Sora. She hadn't been expecting a full kiss. Izumo looked ecstatic and triumphant, laughing at Kotetsu's glare.

I was landed next. Lee. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, to a few laughs. Lee gave me a quick hug.


	13. Chapter 12 - The Parent Look

**Kohaku's PoV  
**  
"You're not concentrating,"

"Piss off, Kakashi." I snarled. "I don't need you to help me."

I tore my eyes away from the stupid target, throwing the knife aimlessly.

It hit dead centre. "See?"

He grunted, shrugging.

Tsunade had given me a reprieve; if I could do some stuff without falling over, she'd let me get my own place. I hated living with Kakashi, especially after the Spin the Bottle.  
I was pretty sure I'd be able to bluff this without having to do anything too big.

It was good that I still had the normal clothes we'd bought, my normal clothing was a little different. It showed my back. I wondered vaguely what had happened to it after I'd been attacked. It must've been pretty torn up.

And I was happy to get rid of the sword.

I was a little scared, though. I felt childish, but I was going to be lonely again. Sometimes I just loved to sit in silence with him. And I'd miss it when he woke me up from the drowning. Maybe — _maybe_ — I enjoyed having his arms around me. He was warm and safe; I was a little afraid of the dark, now.

I shook my head, throwing an another kunai with my left hand.

"You're being boring." Kakashi said.

"Well, I'm not a show off like you," I growled, scuffing my feet in the dirt. He shot me a warning look. I put my hand on my hip, tilting my head to the side. Was he giving me the Parent Look?

"You're a bad girl." He chuckled. "I'm surprised you managed to get around Tsunade at all."

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the stones. They looked like porcupines from all the knives I'd thrown.

"Tell me." He drawled, sloping to stand next to me. "What are the marks on your back?"

"Clan mark," I muttered, folding my arms. "In case we got lost."

"How come you have practically no centre of gravity?"

"Energy,"

"Kohaku," He turned his lone eye on me lazily. "You've obviously been trained from a young age to climb. You have amazing aim, agility, speed, and no centre of gravity. You're basically useless when it comes to jutsu, but you make up for it in your taijutsu and shruikenjutsu. It makes you wonder how you got stabbed at all."

I blinked.

"Why did you get stabbed?"

"I didn't bother fighting back when my target spotted me."

There was silence.

"Do the Endoso have kekkei genkai?"

I shrugged, not looking at him.

"Does this mean I can leave now?"

He nodded. "Fine."

~{ღ}~

I like the quiet. When I could finally lock the door behind me and know he wasn't there with me, I had mixed emotions.

In my hand were the last dose of tablets. I had nothing else with me, apart from a few ryo. They felt heavy in my hand.

"Hey, guys." I nodded to the empty room. "How have you been?"

No one replied.

"I'll leave the door open, if you wanna leave." I said, patting the door knob.

I stretched, sitting on the floor by a small couch. The sky outside threatened a summer storm, the clouds were heavy and suffocating.

"I'm tired," I announced. I tried to lift my legs, but that took effort, so I stretched out once, then curled into a ball at the end of the couch.

"Night."


	14. Chapter 13 - Story Time

**Kakashi's PoV  
**  
No yelling, no noises. Complete silence and my own bed.

The bed which still smelt a little like her.

I rolled over, rubbing my face and yawning. As far as I knew, I hadn't heard anything from the place down the hall. In fact, I think this part of the building was deserted, everyone was on missions. I stumbled out of bed, almost tripping over.

I guess I would miss having her around. But it didn't mean I liked her. She was annoying.

Maybe.

Problem was, on the back end of this, I'd forgotten the sword. Would she even want it? She hadn't mentioned it all in the past week. I'd been given it before she'd gotten out of hospital, and I'd hidden it below my bed.

I swung down, reaching my arm underneath to find it. The tips of my fingers scrabbled at the hilt. I swung a little more and I closed my fist around the sword. I pulled it into the light, shaking my head.  
It was a katana sword with a simple sheath and red leather hilt. I shifted a little, weighing it in my hand. The sword slid out of the sheath easily. The blade was a little dull, a few chips in the blade. It hadn't been used for a long time.

What did she use, then? She'd need a weapon. I suddenly had an image of Kohaku with blood on her hands. No. She wouldn't be able to kill with her bare hands, would she?

I slid the sword back into the sheath, standing. I had to give it back to her. And I had a few questions, too.

~{ღ}~

I knocked on the door gingerly, hiding the sword behind me. It swung loosely, hitting the backs of my legs.

When Kohaku opened the door, she looked happier. Her hair was piled on top of her head again, small locks falling down. Her hair was naturally fine and spiky, with a few stray wavy strands. Her eyes looked a little brighter. She yawned.

"Morning. What is it?"

I shuffled a little. "Uh... Tsunade said I should give you this."

I held out the sword, flat. She opened the door a little more, folding her arms. I stared at the floor.

"Thank you." She said softly, her smaller hand curving under the sword. It looked like a feather in her hand, the way she handled it. She was obviously used to it.

I looked up. "How come it hasn't been used?"

She looked around, then back at me. Then, she let the door open most of the way.

"Just come in." She said quietly, letting the sword drop to her side. "Not out here."

I ducked through the door, waiting for her. She closed the door, leaning against it.

Slowly, she leant the sword by the wall. Quick as a flash, too fast for me to see, she was sitting on the couch, her chin rested on one knee.

She was definitely feeling better.

I sat on a chair, watching her as she took as a deep breath.

"That is the sword which killed my sensei, my brother... and the boy I loved." She said, rubbing her nose nervously. "You know about the Endoso, right? Pretty strict. Very... traditional."

I nodded. Her sensei, Kazuo and Naoko. This was what she was fighting. Nothing would let her go; somehow, she blamed herself.

"Around ten months before I was born, the Endoso arrived in the Sound village. They were still following the old rules, but their power was fading. Less good children were being born, they weren't suited to the training they were supposed to,

My clan went to Orochimaru. He'd heard about them, and agreed to take the tests. He took genes from the best of the clan, then implanted them into a pregnant woman. She and her husband were now parents to the 'saviour of Endoso,'"

She laughed bitterly.

"My mother wasn't aware of the genes in her family, so when the baby was born, there were two. Twins. A boy and a girl. We were more like slightly above average, rather than the best of the clan. Because of the experiments and delivering two children, my mother died,

For most of my life, my father drank. He believed it was my fault: men were always the more powerful. I was beaten, kicked, burnt. My brother had the same treatment, but he was more subdued. They weren't as hard on him. I loved him. When my father committed suicide when I was seven, one woman looked after us. My sensei, Mei. She had a son, called Naoko,

I was a kind of stupid kid. Whenever I got told of, I'd spit at the elders. I just made them more angry. Over the years, they got even more impatient. After leaving the Sound, they'd wandered like normal. Everything was 'our fault'. Finally, our head — Ugo — got tired, and decided to get rid of us."

There was no emotion behind her eyes. She spoke conversationally, as if she was talking about strangers.

"He killed Mei. When they came after us, Naoko took us into a deserted building. I must've been about... fourteen. I refused to leave him, and the rest of the older clans people were outside, shouting at him to hand us over. We fought. I shouted at him that I loved him— and— and—"

Her face closed off completely.

"Kazuo dragged me away. When we returned hours later, they'd left Naoko's body out there, along with his mother's. I was shocked, I could barely move. When Kazuo persuaded me to move, we went to the Hidden Rain. I got sick, really sick. Kazuo tried to look after me, but no one would help us. When I got better, it'd taken its toll. I'm a little taller than most sixteen year olds, and I've been like that since I was that age. I haven't grown at all. I'm no taller, but the rest of me has probably changed. I can't remember,

I was about eighteen when Kazuo was killed. The clan was almost ripped apart, and Ugo found us. It was an accident. But he didn't waste any time. He stabbed Kazuo with that sword. Then I killed him. I took the sword, because I'd left my own behind. I barely use it, but it's mine now,

The rest is pretty boring. I killed people for money. Nothing happened. Until one of my targets decided to have friends with him. I didn't bother fighting back, because I want to see them. I want them back, every day. It's that, or I die. But I'm too scared to kill myself."

There was silence. I was sitting completely still, frozen.

I moved, slipping onto the couch next to her.

"My father... also killed himself. He failed a mission after he went back for his team mates. I always saw him as scum, he'd broken the rules. The village hated him, and he took that as reason to end his life." I spoke slowly. It felt like I was moving through heavy, boggy water. "My team mates died, as well as my sensei. Obito loved Rin, and he sacrificed himself to save me from a falling rock in a cave. He was an Uchiha, so he left me one of his eyes, so he could see through me,

I promised to look after Rin. But I failed when she was kidnapped again. We ran into enemies on the way back, and I used my Chidori. In the mist, she got in the way, and I stabbed her. My sensei and his wife died saving the village from the kyubi."

There was another definite silence.

"Kohaku, I don't want you to die. You have friends here. Even if you don't think you can, we will help you. You're fighting everything." I reached out, taking her hand. I turned her to face me, seeing the tear tracks on her cheeks. "Please."

"Not like you to be so polite," She smiled crookedly. Nothing else.

She didn't move for a long time.


	15. Chapter 14 - Mine

**Kohaku's PoV**

I had things to do now. Sora actually made me sign up with her to become a genin teacher after her recent promotion — to Izumo and Kotetsu's chagrin. She was a good friend. She told me about her time with a group of friends outside of the village. She shared a lot of things with me.

I didn't even keep track of days, or weeks.

We laughed a lot: at Izumo and Kotetsu's clumsy attempts to talk to Sora, when I saw Sakura and she told me about her training. I did a few small missions, earning a headband. It felt a little heavy against my head. I discovered I enjoyed teaching at the academy, even of some of them were brats.  
I was trying to move on. Don't blame me.

But it wouldn't let me go. Now that the sword had returned to me, the nightmares still came. Most nights I stayed up, talking to Sora, or simply watching the stars.

Now, I was sitting on my couch wearing just my mesh top — more like a band of material and shorts. The sword lay balanced on my knees.

I ran my hand along the flat of the blade, closing my eyes. This sword had seen a lot. It seemed like it was bound to me: it always found me again.

I weighed it up.

Kakashi. The annoying, lazy, funny, kind jonin who'd stopped me from bleeding to death. The one who wouldn't leave me alone, yet gave me space. Who filled out his orders to the end in a way which seemed like he was completely free.

Naoko. The boy who I'd loved for most of my life, the one who was dead. That was a problem.  
What did I have to live for?

If I fell asleep, I wouldn't want to wake up, would I? I should stop running and let myself reach the end of the dream: the part where I die.

I rolled over, pulling the ends of my hair agitatedly. The sun was setting, casting huge shadows over the village. And that was how I slept.

It wasn't the same. I was in a courtyard in the dark. Nearby, I could hear running water. A fountain?

As my eyes adjusted, I could see the bodies in front of me. Everywhere, there were corpses. I gasped and tried to back away, only to trip over someone else. A hand grabbed my ankle and I twisted.

It was Naoko. Before my eyes, his face began to rot and fade. His eyes fell out and shrivelled, his hair falling out slowly. Damp spread over his skull. Bones snapped.

I tried to scream, but I couldn't.

"Please, let me go."

"You... left... _me_!" He rasped, raising the other hand to my arm. "Come with me... So pretty... mine..."

"No," I shook my head. "Naoko, please."

"But you... Love me..." He said, yanking on my arm.

I screamed. I opened my mouth and screamed shrilly, emptying my lungs. He yanked on my arms, pulling me down. I heard bones crack as I thudded to the ground. Hands covered me. I was suffocating.

"No!" I fought against the tide. "Let me go!"

"It's me, you idiot! It's Kakashi!"

Again, that smell. I felt safe, feeling the bruising hands' marks fade. I took a shaky breath.

"How did you get in here?" I whispered.

"Why are you whispering?"

"My throat hurts. How... how are you here?"

He smiled crookedly. "You'll have to replace your door. No one else is on this level right now. I could hear you from down the hall."

I shook my head.

"I'm sorry,"

"It's fine." He murmured. "Just calm down."

"They were... they were all dead... Naoko was like a... zombie. They were suffocating me." I

whispered. "They wanted _me_."

Kakashi stroked my hair.

"They won't hurt you."

"I can feel it... The hands..."

"Shh."

There was silence. I sniffed, looking up at him. He stared back, squeezing my hand gently.

There was silence, falling like a blanket over us. In the dark, I could see the outline of his spiky hair and face from the side. Even at night, he wore that mask. Slowly, I relaxed, closing my eyes. I didn't move, trying to release the tension in my muscles.

Carefully, I put my hand on his chest, completely flat. He didn't move, his arm still wrapped around me. I could feel his heartbeat.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

When I looked up at him, his eyes were half closed. He smiled at me.

Was I being childish? I was supposed to be an adult, even a shinobi. I may still look like just a girl, and I was living in the past.

But I couldn't let go.

If I moved on, I was moving onto nothing. My family were dead, so was my best friend. Even now, as Kakashi was holding me, my gut felt like it was churning. Naoko had come back, I was betraying him.

I was an empty shell.

When he kissed me, I felt my stomach lurch. Why was I doing this? I shouldn't be kissing him.

But I liked it. The way his hair felt when I knotted my fingers into it, the way he tasted.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

My head throbbed. I pulled away, resting my head on Kakashi's shoulder. He watched me warily.

"What spell did you put on me this time?" He murmured. I wrapped my arms around myself.

"I... can't." I whispered. "Why do you stay?"

He shrugged, stroking my hair.

"Just sleep."

I gulped back more tears, nodding. His arms began cradling me, shielding me.

Kakashi was my shield.


	16. Chapter 15 - Not In The Hidden Rain

**Kohaku's PoV**

"You walk really slow."

I took a deep breath, pulling my bag up and ignoring him. He began to whistle, humming some old folk song.

"You are irritating me, Kakashi."

He leaned over my shoulder, muttering. "You were annoying me too, with your walking."

I sighed, turning away and hoping he didn't see the slight blush on my cheeks.

"How far are we from the village?" I said, trying to stay confident. "And why are we carrying so much stuff?"

"We have to collect two things." He held up his hand, with the first two fingers, to illustrate his point. "One, a scroll. Two, a child named Rei. She's supposed to be one of the last descendants of a Senju, or something like that. They're hoping she'll be able to use Mokuton, like Hashirama Senju. Thus, we must look after her."

"You're very professional today." I nodded in approval. He cleared his throat, giving me an un-readable look.

I turned away, scanning the landscape. "So, where can we find this girl? And the scroll."

"The Hidden Mist."

"Right..." I sighed. "Where are we now?"

"Not in the Hidden Mist."

I resisted the urge to slap him. "I figured."

He shrugged. "Somewhere in the outskirts of Konoha. We have a long way to go."

"Then let's hurry up."

He frowned. "You were the one who was walking so slow."

"You- Just-...Shut up."

"As the lady commands."

"... The outskirts?! And you were complaining about my walking?!"

"Move it, chunin."

"Shut up. One day, I will beat you."

"If I were to sit down and list everything we can both do - which I wouldn't because I have better things to do - I think you'd come up rather short compared to me."

"I'd still kick your ass."

He ignored me, walking in front and then suddenly dashing away. I chased after him, yelling.

"Hey! What was that?!"

He laughed, "I'm proving my speed superiority."

"Jerk..." I muttered, pulling past him and making a face. He grinned, moving faster and faster. "Do you want me to get angry?!"

I stopped in the middle of the track, balling my hands into fists. I could beat him. I was faster. But he was taller than me, with longer legs. I didn't want to let go here, I didn't want to remember.

He stopped as well. "Kohaku?"

I trembled. "Just...Go..."

Suddenly, I was weightless. He swept me into his arms and began to run, even faster than before.

"Kakashi!" I yelled. "Bad! Bad! Put me down! Bad Kakashi!"

He laughed and kept on running.

"Well, it's obvious we're not going to get anywhere with you walking, Kohaku." He looked down at me briefly. Again, the kind look. I glared at him, poking him.

"I'm fine! Put me down!"

He shrugged, carrying on running. But he slowed down a little.

"Kakashi, I'm not sick anymore. I can run. You should've just asked."

"Then why did you look like you were going to cry again?" He said. He said it quietly, like the whole forest was listening. It felt like it was. I could hear the creak of the trees as they leant in to listen. I gasped. Perhaps running had done it again.

"No... stop running... please..."

I had to slow down. My hearing had dulled. I didn't want to hear all those things again, smell the blood. Along with the temporary wings comes other traits of a bird. Sense of smell, eyesight, speed. And I didn't want that. No.

He continued running, oblivious.

"Stop!" I screamed, feeling the scars on my back burn. He finally stopped, lowering me to the ground.

"Kohaku? Wha-" I curled into a ball, twitching.

"It hurts. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts." I muttered. I began a mantra. If I chanted, the pain would lessen. Again and again.

He pulled me onto his lap, cradling me. I ignored him, chanting out my mantra. It would save me. It would.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."

"Kohaku, calm down."

I rolled over, gritting my teeth. "I'm sorry. It's stupid. All I do is hurt and I'm most likely going to be useless as a ninja from now on. I'm sorry you have to put up with me."

"What are you talking about? Kohaku, talk to me."

"I can't do anything 'cause of my stupid back."

"Then I'll have to carry you, won't I?" He reached over to pick me up, but I pushed him away.

"Stop." I told him. "You already carried me before. Not again."

He stared at me, eye to eye. "Well, this time you don't have a choice." He pulled me up again, but this time it was different. Time was slower, gentler... sweeter. I could feel his soft heartbeat through his vest and I was all too consious of his arms wrapped around me.

"We're going to be here forever if you carry me. I need to walk." I said, looking up at him. "Please. We're going to take forever like this."

"Then forever we shall take."

I huffed, relaxing. "Fine then. If you want." He relaxed too, and I elbowed him in the gut. Hard.

He released me, and I landed on my feet, feeling the slight movement make my back burn.

"Thank you."

He grunted in response, dragging himself back up.

"Ow."

I bit my lip. Rather drastic measures.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry..."

He made a laughing noise that was a cross between a choke and a gasp. "It's fine. Should have known better than to mess with the great Kohaku Endoso." He pulled himself back up, refusing to look me in the eye.

"Sorry..." I said again.

"So, by my calculations, we'll be there in another few hours." He still wouldn't look at me. I bit back another apology.

"Calculations?" I scoffed. "Seriously?"

"Yes." He turned around, walking off.

"Kakashi! Wait up!" I ran to catch up, but he wouldn't slow down. My back still ached. When I caught up, he didn't even acknowledge my presence.

"I'm sorry..." I said, looking down. "I am."

His eyes were distant. "I hear you."

"I..." I sniffed. Damn, why was I going to cry?! Come on, Kohaku. You're tougher than this! I went silent. It was no use apoligizing. He wasn't listening. He didn't care. It didn't matter.

"Kohaku..."

"Leave it."

"Kohaku!"

"I can't do this. Just shut up." Suddenly, he stopped walking, and I rammed into his back.

"What was that?!" I yelled, shoving him away.

He turned around and pulled me into a hug. We stood there, with him holding me like I was trying to fly away.

"Why don't you understand...?" He whispered, brushing my hair off my forehead. Why were his fingers so freakishly long?

"Understand what?" I muttered.

"I just want to help you." He replied, his fingers still playing with my hair. "If you don't want to help yourself, at least let me save you."

"Save me from what?!" I snapped.

"I don't know. You won't tell me."

"Then why do you have to save me?! Why do you care?! Why?! Why!?"

"Because I love you."


	17. Chapter 16 - Intuition

One scroll down. But it turned out that this 'Rei' was in another part of the village.

And there was a curfew.

"What do you mean?! What kind of a village has a curfew?!" I growled, kicking out at a wall. Kakashi sighed.

"I don't know. But we need to find her tomorrow."

"I hate curfews."

"Yes, I can see you as someone who would hate them." Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his gravity defiant silver hair. "We'll need to find somewhere to stay overnight."

"No."

He gave me a strange look. "No what?"

"Come on. It's not that. We can find somewhere to stay, outside. What's the point, anyway?" I yawned, stretching. "There could be some shelter, somewhere."

"Like what?" Kakashi gave me a skeptical glance.

"Shelter. Anything." I shrugged. "You scared, old man?"

I spun around, grinning. "You are! Sissy!"

"I'm not." He blinked. My grin became wider.

"Come on, then." I held out my hand.

He sighed, grabbing it. "Fine. You win."

I smirked and dragged him away, looking for something that could be used for shelter.

He pointed at a rock. "Does that work?"

I laughed. "Baka. What are we supposed to do with a rock that weighs more that the both of us combined?"

He shrugged. "Lift it and hide under it?"

"You don't sleep under rocks, baka. They'd squash you." I shook my head. "There might be a back alley, somewhere."

He gave me a sideways look.

"You're still used to this."

"So?" I said, turning back. I felt alive - I could walk where I wanted, steal what I wanted. And I was in my territory, not his. Mine.

I kept pulling him along, and he walked behind me, his usual calm showing the slightest bit of unease. This was my element, and he was at my mercy.

Cue evil Kohaku laugh.

"Kohaku, it's going to rain."

"So?"

"So?" He blinked. "We will get wet."

"Obviously."

"I thought you didn't like the cold."

"Deal with it." I snapped. I looked down. "Are we holding hands?"

I blushed, yanking my hand away. After earlier... well, I'd tried not to say anything since.

He smirked slightly, brushing my hair off my face. "Well, Great Kohaku, shall we find some shelter?"

"You're annoying." I huffed, pulling away.

He laughed, holding out his hand. "I require your guidance."

"Follow me, then." I turned around to hide my blush. I heard him laugh again.

Stupid man.

~{ღ}~

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Kohaku..."

"Are you arguing with me?"

"This is a tree."

"Yes. It is. Now climb."

"How?"

"You're a ninja. I'm sure you can figure it out."

"Kohaku, it would be so much easier if we just found somewhere to stay. You're still ill."

I winced. "Shut up. I'll be fine."

"You're not fine." He said, folding his arms and tapping his foot. "Come on."

"This isn't fair. I like trees."

"I don't."

"I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Kohaku." He said, trying to be serious. "We have to go and find somewhere to stay. We can't get stopped for not honouring the curfew. We have to remove Rei with as little disturb-"

"I get it!" I snapped. "Just because you're scared~ But fine."

"Stay in some motel while there's a perfectly good tree out here..." I muttered.

"Hm?" He was looking around the square for a place.

"Nothing." I said. "Nothing at all."

"Your obsession with trees is far from healthy."

"I've been ill for a long time." I grinned.

He sighed. "Can't argue with that."

I glared. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing." He smiled. "Nothing at all."

~{ღ}~

"How did we still end up in a tree?"

"Intuition, dear."

**So. *wiggles eyebrows* Yes, yes. I get it. Nakita put in the last line. It's very like Kohaku to ignore Kakashi's undying love for her. **

**But hint hint. That's going to change~**

**Well, I don't know. I'm still sorting out the ideas ^^'**

**This story has actually reached double digit chapters! *gasp* I never get that far! :O**

**So, yeah. Vote, comment, fan. It means the world to me – even if I'm terrible about thanking you guys. Because of Meebo being gone, I feel all lonely in my corner of the internet. Since I hit the three hundred mark, I keep forgetting to thank you! I'm so sorry! D:**

**But I love every single one of you. Hugs, kisses**

**~ Danna. **


	18. Chapter 17 - Rei

**Kohaku's PoV**

I grinned. Kakashi had insisted on being the one in front, which I was fine with. I got to watch him get told off by a twelve year old.

Rei was a tall girl, with long, messy black hair and eyes. I decided I liked her.

"Go away. You're creepy."

I grinned even wider. Someone agreed with me.

Kakashi sighed, "Please, I just want to help you. If you'll-"

I made a face at the familiar words and mouthed, "Don't believe this baka. He's a pervert and a-"

Oh. He saw that.

Cue another Kakashi sigh.

"Mature, Kohaku."

I rolled my eyes. "You see?" I told her. "Kakashi is a baka and a meanie."

She smirked. "He's weird."

"Agreed."

"Hey!"

I gave him a haughty look. "You opinion is not valued in this conversation, Kakashi."

Rin giggled. "You two are funny. Like a couple."

Maybe I didn't like her so much...

"But I bet that you're the one that gives him all the orders."

I love her.

"Hey-"

"You see, Kakashi?" I smirked. "I give the orders."

He muttered something I couldn't here.

"What was that, weakling?" I said, shuffling closer and putting a hand behind my ear. "I didn't catch that."

"Nothing."

"You definitely said something." I grinned, moving to stand behind him. "Come on, Kakashi~ Tell me~"

He shook his head. "No."

I jumped up, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and resting my head there.

"Tell me."

"You're being a koala again."

"Well done." I hummed, digging my pointed chin into his neck. He tensed. "Ah, well done, again. Now, tell me."

"Uh, guys? When you're all done being weird and invading personal space, could you tell me what you want?"

I jumped away from him and pointed accusingly at his stunned face.

"That was all him! Don't even think that was partially me!"

"Right." She deadpanned. "What do you want?"

I cleared my throat, but Kakashi- that jerk- butted in.

"We need to take you back to the leaf village. You are one of the last living descendants of the first Hokage, and you may have his ability to manipulate wood. We need to-"

"Boring."

"What?"

"This is boring. I say no. Go away."

"I know, he is boring." I nodded. "Kakashi, dear. Do shut up."

I pushed past him, folding my arms. She was taller than me, which made my frown even bigger.

"Look. What do I call you again?"

"Just call me Rei!" She said, exasperated.

"Rei. Uh... Kakashi's a boring sod. You're in danger from bad people. Yadda yadda. Awesome ninja stuff, yadda yadda. If you don't come with us I'll knock you out and get Kakashi to carry you. Carries with Kakashi are fun." I gave him a glare.

She nodded, and then her mouth formed to a smirk. "What makes you think you could knock me out?"

I sighed. "Kid. I like you, but don't test me."

"Are you sure you're even ninja?" She snorted. "We've got an old man, and a midget with tension. This is so over rated."

"Okay...You are really getting on my nerves..." I hissed. "Kakashi, help me-...Kakashi?"

He was staring at her in stunned silence. "Old man..." He muttered. "Old man...No...Not old...No...The grey hair is hereditary! No...not old...no..."

"Oh, come on. It's not as if you haven't had it before- Dammit, Kakashi! Shut up!" I huffed, folding my arms. "You've been stuck with me for weeks, get a thicker skin. Geez."

"Old..."

I sighed, burying my face in my palm. Kakashi would be absolutely no help.

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Is he...okay?"

"No. He's not okay. Never has been. Some people wonder if he should be allowed outside." I leant in closer to her. "If you come with me, right? He reads smut. I will protect you."

She paled. "Deal."

I grinned and stood up. "Mission accomplished, Kakashi. Now, get your sorry hide over here."

Rei stuck out her tongue at him. "Old pervert."

He coughed, choked, and fell to the ground.

Rei blinked. "Was it something I said?"

"No, dear. Not at all."

~{ღ}~

"This is your entire fault."

Rei glared at me, rolling her eyes. "It's your fault for bringing the creepy old man along. He was weird, I didn't come with you, and now we're stuck in this village because of the curfew." Kakashi sighed, ignoring her.

I huffed. "Well, you didn't have to be so scared of him. He's about as dangerous as a...um..."

"A ninja?"

"Yes! That's it!"

"Ninjas are dangerous." She deadpanned.

"Nah. He's harmless. He still doesn't want to hurt me; however annoying I am." I grinned cheekily. "He's been spending too much time near little kids."

Kakashi muttered something.

"Kakashi, I'm done with your muttering."

"How old is he supposed to be?!" Rei gaped.

"Um... Kakashi, how old are you?"

"Twenty six..." He said grumpily. I shrugged.

"There you go."

She frowned. "That can't be true. He has grey hair."

"I was born this way."

"You were born as a grumpy, sarcastic, annoying dickhead?" I said sweetly. He sighed at me. When Rei turned away, I bit my lip. Maybe I didn't want to insult Kakashi so much. Maybe I did want to poke his arm and apologise.

"Poke." I whispered. He raised his head.

"What?"

"Poke. No poke backs."

Okay, poke achieved. Now for the apology...

Not in my life.

"It'll be past curfew in a few minutes," I said quietly. I chanced a quick glance up at him. "Look... Ah... um... Sorry."

Tentatively, a hooked my arm through his. "Shall we go~?"

He stared at my arm, and then turned away. "Yeah."

~{ღ}~

"No."

"Please, dear. Don't be difficult."

"I am not sleeping in a tree."

"I never said to sleep in it. You only have to sit there while we sleep."

"Well, I refuse to go up there!"

"Well, aren't you a princess." I muttered. "Fine, Kakashi. You get your way. We have about two minutes to get inside."

Kakashi stared at me.

"Well, go on then. Carry her or something!" I smiled at Rei. "You'll love his carrying."

Her eyes widened. "No."

Kakashi sighed. "I'm sure Rei is capable of walking."

"She's not fast enough." I growled. "Two minutes! Rei, do you know a hotel near here?"

She shrugged. "There's one right down the street. Near the main plaza."

"Good. We'll go there."

~{ღ}~

"Oh how nice! A cute little family!"

I could feel the vein popping in my head.

"You're all going to die." I muttered to Kakashi, stamping on his foot. "Just get this over with, smooth talker."

He cleared his throat, wincing. "Ah, yes. My..wife..." I stamped on his foot again. "...And my daughter...Ow..." Rei stomped on his other foot. "Would like to stay here."

The inkeeper grinned. "Wonderful! We'll give you a nice little room. Perfect for families! There's a main bedroom, and one side one for your cute little girl!" She leaned down and pinched Rei's cheek. "Adorable!" She cooed.

I sighed, making a mental note to come back here one day and break every single window in this hotel. Rei gave me a pleading look. I poked Kakashi in the side.

She handed him the key and I hopped up the stairs, watching the other two wander along. "Hurry up!"

I stole the keys from Kakashi, unlocking the door and stepping inside.

"Old man and child go together. Bye." I said, dropping the keys and bolting to the side room.

"NO!" I heard Rei yell. "You can't leave me here with this paedo! Help!"

I hummed to myself, ignoring her screams.

"P..Please! Help! He-AH!"

I darted up. Kakashi wouldn't do anything to her...Would he? No...even he wasn't...

"Rei, shut up." Kakashi sighed, sitting down. I poked my head out of the door.

"HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE." She screamed, not seeing me. I strode in, grabbing her head and shoving it under my arm.

"Yes. You're in so much distress." I spat. "Keep it down, smart ass."

I walked back into my little room, and shut the door, locking it. There. No more disturbances.

"Kohaku... pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." Rei said, scratching at my door. "Or I'll tell your Hokage thingy that he hurt me!"

"You really are a brat, aren't you?!" I snarled. Kakashi laughed in the background.

"Well, you're the one who's 'married' to him." She snickered. I kicked at the wall. Making a hole.

"Finefineyougoin." I grinned, seeing the size of the gap. I opened the door. "Go on, go on~"

She narrowed her eyes. "Should I be concerned?"

"Of course not, my love~" I sang.

"I am now concerned."

"In~!" I pushed her into the room and shut the door.

"Hey!" She yelled. "There's a hole in the wall!"

"Take the hole or take the old man! It's your choice."

"Hole." Was all she said before she went quiet.

"You broke the wall." Kakashi said, falling back. "Kohaku, please control your temper for more than half an hour."

"Impossible~" I crowed. "Wait. What do I do now?"

I stared at him.

"You're tall."

"No, you're small."

I glared at him. "No. You're just freakishly big."

"You're freakishly short."

"Lies."

"Hey, guys? I can hear your whole lover's quarrel, so if you two are going to make out please do it somewhere else."

"Rei. One more word from you, and I'll take that room back."

Ah. Beautiful silence...

"Move it." I muttered, sitting down. He sat up, raising an eyebrow. "Don't even look at me."

"Fine then."

There was a short silence.

"Is your leg long enough to get to the light switch?" I muttered. He shrugged. I sighed and stood up, listening out for Rei. She was snoring loudly. Great.

"Hey, Kohaku?"

"Yes, Kakashi?"

"Those scars on your back-"

"Don't want to talk about it."

"Kohaku, you can't ignore it forever. Just-"

"I said I didn't want to talk about it."

He was silent. "How many times do I have to say this before you believe me? I just want to help you."

"Don't help me, Kakashi." I let out a bitter laugh. "The only person who has ever helped me died."

"Maybe I wouldn't mind it."

"What?"

"Maybe helping you would be worth that."

I huffed, turning away. "You're an idiot, Kakashi."

Suddenly, he was staring into my eyes. "I'm an idiot for you, Kohaku."

"Shut up!" I hissed, pushing him back. "I don't want to hear it."

"Kohaku."

"No."

"I didn't even say anyth-"

I whirled around to face him. "Yes. You did. Now shut up."

"I said your name." He sighed, exasperated.

"Your voice makes me want to throw up."

"Hey!"

I turned around, walking away. He grabbed my shoulder, turning me around. His arm was shaking.

"Kohaku. Why can't you just talk to me?"

I glared at him, trying to pull out of his grip.

"Because I don't want to talk to you, dammit! Just leave me alone!"

"No." He said, his voice quiet. "You have to talk to me. You can't hide this forever!"

"I can!" I shouted. "Kiss my ass, Hatake!"

He was silent. "Kohaku. I just want to help you."

I exploded. "Have you ever stopped to think that I don't want your help? Maybe I don't need your help! Maybe I don't need you!"

"Then why do you let me stay, when you have the nightmares?"

I stared at him, shaking. Angry tears poured down my cheeks.

"Get away from me!"

"Fine."

I bit my lip, snatching my arm away. Then, I began to walk away.

He turned around and walked out the door. I heard it shut behind him; a soft, almost silent noise. As soon as I heard it, I crumpled to the floor.

Idiot. Kakashi was an idiot, and I didn't need him. No. I didn't.

Then why was I crying?


	19. Chapter 18 - Kiss

**Kakashi's PoV**

She was crying.

Right now, if I was a good person, I'd walk back in and apologise. But she was just as stubborn as I was. And she'd never admit it.

But she was crying.

I sighed, sliding to the ground and leaning against the door. I buried my head in my hands.

I was stupid. I should go back in there. I was supposed to be looking after her, right? But my mission had finished.

I still wanted to help her, though.

But why wouldn't she let me?

I stood up, turning the doorknob and peering inside. It had gotten dark, and the whole apartment was covered in a blanket of shadows.

"Kohaku?"

I stepped inside, looking over the apartment. There she was, lying on the sofa, curled into a ball. Her body rose and fell with silent breaths. I crouched down, pushing a strand of hair off her child-like face.

"Kohaku Endoso..." I whispered, tracing the lines of her jaw with my fingers. She sighed in her sleep and curled into a ball.

"You must be some sort of witch." My fingers touched her mouth. "You've put a spell on me."

I traced the outline of her pink lips, slightly parted as if they were fixed in a permanent pout.

I decided to be an idiot.

I kissed her.

And for the tiniest of moments, she kissed me back.

Then she slapped me.

"Hey!" She tried to keep her voice down. "Not with the rape, again!"

I blinked at her.

"I told you to piss off!"

I sighed. "You're always so angry with me. That or crying."

"Shut up." She murmured, leaning forward and kissing me again. I blinked. I could still taste a little of her salty tears, but that was taken over by the taste of her. The taste of Kohaku. She pulled back for a second, eyes not even remotely angry anymore.

"Koh-"

"Just kiss me, idiot."

I let my fingers graze over her soft mouth. "Do you promise not to cry?" She nodded, her eyes wide. "Then just close your eyes."

She smirked. "Should I be worried?"

"About what?"

"It's dangerous to let your guard down around perv-"

I put a finger to her lips. "I thought you wanted a kiss."

"I do."

"Then be quiet and let me kiss you already."

I just stared, studying her soft, pink lips, and her wide, wide eyes.

Suddenly, she grabbed my chin and crashed her lips into mine.

"Wha-"

She huffed. "You weren't doing anything, so I had to do something."

I blinked, then chuckled. "Fine then. I will do something."

I brushed my fingers against her cheek, feeling her shiver. I cupped her chin, pulling her lips up to meet mine.

Here's the problem with kissing Kohaku. Once I started, I never wanted to let her go.

"You know..." She sighed. "You're an idiot, Kakashi..."

"Mhm." I murmured, lowering my head. She gasped under her breath when I trailed butterfly kisses along her jaw. Kami, I didn't want to scare her. I knew she'd get scared. But I needed this. "Kohaku..."

"Yes...?" She said quietly.

"About what I said."

Her hand touched my shoulder. "Shh, baka."

"I'm so-"

"Shh..." She brushed her fingers through my hair. I never noticed how small her hands were. "Don't ruin the moment, baka."

I tugged at her shirt, willing it to come off. It refused. I sent her a pleading look. She smirked and pulled it off kissing me again.

There was a small, rustling sound. I didn't want to be distracted: half the time, Kohaku was angry with me. Not that I was taking advantage.

She rested her head in the crook of my neck, leaving me to rest my hands on her warm, bare waist. I turned my head.

"Rei...!" I coughed. Rei was leaning against the wall. "Were you planning on standing there-? What-?!"

Kohaku tapped my chest, looking up at me once. I glared at Rei.

"Move it."

She blinked.

Kohaku blinked.

Rei blinked again.

I blinked.

"So... You two..."

"Yes. We are." I pulled Kohaku into a kiss, leaving her staring blankly at me.

Rei nodded. "Um..."

"Give us some privacy?"

"G..Good idea!"

Kohaku laughed under her breath, knotting her fingers behind my neck. I rose one eyebrow.

"Go on. I have no imagination right now. All cried out."

"Sorry..."

"Kakashi, just do something. Before I get bored."

Yes, she was demanding. Yes, she was angry. Yes, she was childish.

But she was also mine.

I hovered over her small frame before trailing kisses up her neck. She made a soft noise, shifting closer.

"Baka..." She mumbled, burying her head in my shoulder. I kissed her again, chuckling.

"What are you laughing about?!" She huffed, puffing out her cheeks.

"You're cute."

A light blush covered her cheeks. "Shut up!"

"Way too cute."

"Stop-" I cut her off with another kiss.

"Just be quiet and let me kiss you already."

Surprisingly enough, she went silent. I worked my way down her neck, pausing when I heard a soft noise. I kissed that spot again, hearing her moan again.

"I-idiot." She mumbled, her fingers tightening around my neck.

I chuckled, licking the spot before continuing down her body. She shifted under me, her back arching as I reached her chest. I tugged at her shirt.

"Will it come off?"

She was breathing hard. "If you want it to."

I chuckled, playing with her hair. "Once it does, Kohaku, I'm not going to stop."

"Then take it off already."


	20. Chapter 19 - Good Morning

**Kohaku**

I was lying on something warm and firm.

As far as I'm concerned, pillows should be soft.

I opened my eyes to find myself staring into another pair of them.

"Morning."

"Hm." I sat up, and Kakashi pulled his arm out from under me. I blinked, pulling the sheet up to cover my front. It was cold.

So, what did I do now? I mean, was he going to continue like he had before, just giving in when I called him an idiot, or saying those things I didn't want to hear? Something should change now... I was being a little out of date, but still. Had something even changed? I turned to look down at him.

He shuffled a little more below the sheets, groaning.

"What is it?" I rested my left hand on the mattress, relaxing.

"Nothing..." He mumbled, his voice coming out muffled from under the sheets.

I sighed, yanking them off his face. "Just talk normally, fool." Oops. I did it again. I really had to stop calling Kakashi stupid things... "Look, I'm sorry." I pulled back, staring down at my hands. "I'm too violent, I'm sorry-"

I flopped back down. "I'm the idiot, okay?" I drew the sheet far up my chest, snuffling.

"What are you talking about?" He muttered. "I should—"

I stared at the ceiling. "I'm going to get up. I don't want to talk about it."

The words came out a little harsh. I didn't want to talk about it because I didn't know how, or why I had to, particularly.

And I felt so much worse, because I felt a little happy. Happy like a glow in my stomach. And my thoughts were on nothing else. And that was wrong.

Damn, maybe I even wanted to kiss him again.

But I couldn't. Because I didn't know why, and I didn't know how to give a reason.

Rei was quiet. Kakashi was quiet. I was quiet. It was quiet. The entire fact that she was there just made it more fresh in my memory, but I didn't want to think about that. Because to think about what she had done meant I had to think about what I had done.

_Stop that. _

Just turn around, say something, idiot. You're my idiot, you're supposed to say something.

_But he's not yours!_

I want your hand. I want _you_.


	21. Chapter 20 - Kotori

**Kakashi**

Kotori. Little bird. It almost seemed ironic. When she'd been asleep, I'd seen that bracelet. It was leather, soft from years of being worn, with the kanji "小鳥" scratched into it. Tsunade had said that had something to do with her past.

Kohaku had told me a lot, but I still felt like I didn't _know _her. Which was stupid. I'd lived with her, argued with her, talked to her, carried her. Maybe, she was right, she didn't need my help. She'd survived for years without her brother.

But that had hurt her. No brother. All she had was the desire to stop living.

I'd been an idiot, but we both had. So, that's why I went looking.

Looking for her in the bingo book. I didn't think she'd be there, not really. She wasn't exactly bad… she just did as she was paid.

**Name:** Kotori (name given by sources, real name unknown)

**Age:** Late teens, early twenties/unsure.

**Recognizable traits:** Small stature, spiky hair, large brown eyes.

**Former village:** Unknown.

**Former rank:** Unknown.

**_Personal data:_**

**Registration ID:** Unknown.

**Date of birth:** Unknown.

**Blood type:** Unknown.

**Height:** 5'2"

**Weight:** Unknown.

**Chakra control:** 3

**Genjutsu:** 2

**Ninjutsu:** 2

**Taijutsu:** 5

**Long range:** 4

**Close range:** 5

**Missions:**

Unknown

**Advanced data:**

Unkown.

**Criminal data:**

**Criminal rank:** A

**Status:** Active

**Organization:** Works solo

**Alliances:** Munsakasu

**Wanted for:** This individual is a dangerous assassin, who emerged about a year ago. Not evicted for any crimes such as killing important nin, if you find her, be careful.

**Orders:** Be careful, not much is known about Kotori. Often seen on rooftops or above ground. We have never encountered her directly.

**Bounty:** Unknown

**No other information.**

I groaned, burying my head in my hands. Dammit Kohaku! That's what Tsunade had meant…

And yet, she hadn't done anything to Kohaku. Maybe it was because so little was known about her. All she was was an alias, a hired assassin. There was nothing Tsunade could do.

So much unknown… and she'd trusted me with so much information…

I was there again.

The place was still. Silent. A few new gravestones were erected, but nothing much had changed. After all, what was there to change here?

I wondered if I should try for a small greeting. I always brought flowers - with increasing taunts from Ino, since Kohaku had arrived - but she'd just brought me closer to death. It was stupid. Of course, she was tainted with blood, she was an assassin. A famous, faceless one.

She seemed so close to the dead that maybe I should just open my mouth and talk to Obito, even if it wouldn't bring any of them back.

"Hey...?" I felt like an idiot, talking to a stone. But I probably already was, so I kept going.

"Something happened recently. I think you're the only one I can say it to."

The stone didn't say anything. It seemed ironic: Obito had always been so loud.

"Obito... you loved Rin, right? No. That shouldn't be a question. You loved her... This is weird." I mumbled, scuffing the ground. "I met someone."

"She's, well... complicated. I don't really know where to start." I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Well, I think I kinda invested a little too much. But sometimes it feels like she returns how I feel... she's complicated. Yeah."

"But the fact of the matter is, I feel... right with her, if that makes sense. She gets closed off sometimes but I actually like being with her. But I screwed it up." I sighed. "Obito, it takes more than one person for a conversation to work. Yeah, I'm an idiot. This is weird and stupid. It's like... she's drenched in blood. An assassin, I guess. But she doesn't seem to care, or want any help. She has nightmares, and she had to stay with me... it was kind of inevitable but now I've just messed it up. It's a huge mess."

It was strange that back when Obito was alive, I'd hated hearing him yell. Right now, I'd give anything to hear his voice.

"Uh... Okay, don't shout at me. I'm an adult, right? I can do what I want. We had this mission to go and get some descendant of Senju... she was annoying. Kohaku and I argued. She's hurt, seriously hurt. Her back's all cut up, she just doesn't want anyone to help her. But yeah... we argued... and then we uh... Okay, don't stare at me like that!"

The rock wasn't staring at me. It just sat there, like it didn't approve. If rocks had feeling that is, which I'm pretty sure they don't. But Obito would shout at me. Because he was a loud person. And I think I deserved to be shouted at.

"Guess." I muttered. "I don't really want to say it because I'm an idiot and yeah."

Everything was silent. How stupid could I get?

"Well I feel like I've told you now. She's funny, she's cute, she's grumpy. She can be seriously childish and she hates the cold."

I let out a sigh. Might as well put it out in the open.

"I think I love her, Obito." I groaned. "And that's stupid. Because when that happens, something goes wrong, but..." The stone remained silent, as if waiting for me to continue. I sighed again.

"But...When it works out, it's perfect, and I-" I stopped, staring at the rock. It was giving off that feel that rocks give off, like they're ignoring you. "It won't work out... because she's just... I feel like I'm not good enough, but at the same time, we both know that's not true..."

Now I was making myself worse. It was so, so much worse.

"And it's so stupid… you know that feeling where you just want someone to touch you, just touch your hand, so you know they're there, and they want you there…? She's done that. It's like she needs me… but she doesn't want to."

The stone said nothing. I stood there, the bingo book in my hand.

"Obito… it's so stupid. It can give me the best feeling ever. I can feel like one of the luckiest people… or I can feel like nothing. And all I want to know is how she feels, whether she feels the same, why she won't talk about it. I want to know what's wrong."

It began to rain. First, a few rumbles in the low, sluggish sky. Then a few drops of rain. I didn't move, head still bowed. The rain began to pelt down, almost bouncing off the ground.

"Kakashi…?"

I didn't move, but a small hand touched my arm. _See, Obito? This is her._

"Kakashi?" She looked up at me. "Tsunade has a mission…"  
"Uh, right. Of course." I said, trying to fashion myself into some form of a smile. She waited, hand still on my arm. For a moment, I felt happy.

And so, so much worse. I reached down, tucking a lock of her wet hair behind her ear. "Come on, let's go."


	22. Chapter 21 - Monsoon

**Kohaku's PoV**

It was warm, and it was raining. Not exactly a monsoon, but it made me want to kick off my sandals and run through the puddles. I liked it when it was like this: just the right temperature to feel the rain hitting your skin. I tilted my head to the sky, sighing. The lock of hair fell forward, and I almost felt normal.

But then it crushed me again. I couldn't deal with this. I stayed up at night, muffled myself, because I didn't want to see him like that again. And they were coming again, worse this time. He wanted me. Me.

I shuddered, suddenly feeling the chill of cold rain against my skin. It had never bothered me before.

But that was before.

"Kohaku? Mission?" Kakashi waved a hand in front of my face. I jumped.

"Uh, sorry, sorry." I looked away, beginning to walk. I drew my shirt around me, my feet kicking up small splashes.

His eyes didn't leave my face. "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean? I'm totally fine. Whatever gave you that idea? I'm good. You're delusional."

"You're not." Suddenly, he was cupping my chin, staring into my eyes. "Was it about your past?" I ignored him. "Or... Was it the boy you talk about in your sleep?"

I stopped. "Don't do this, Kakashi."

"Do what?" He shrugged, bending to look at me slightly.

"Stop bending." I snapped, folding my arms. "It's like you're patronising me. Well, you are. And no; I don't talk—I talk about him in my sleep?" I licked my lips, feeling the bile rise up.

I turned on my heel, as the rain began to pour even more steadily. "Come on, we'll be late."

He didn't move. I whirled around and glared at him. "Come on Kakashi."

"Talk to me, Kohaku. Please."

"Don't start this, Kakashi. Not-"

"I know you hate this, but please, talk to me. Trust me."

I snorted. "Trust you with what?"

"With knowing your past."

"What if I don't want you to?"

He sighed. "I know conversation is hard..."

"I never said it was hard." I said quickly. "I can carry a conversation about certain topics. And I don't want to talk about this." – Least of all, you.

He rolled his eyes. "Stop being childish."

I almost retorted, but instead, I inhaled deeply, trying not to lose my temper. "Not here. Not now. Anyway, what is there to tell?"

"Everything." He said. "I know practically nothing about you."

"Maybe I like it that way." I muttered.

"Maybe..." He looked away. "Maybe I don't."

Silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity.

At last, he spoke. "Please. Just-"

"We have a mission to take care of, Hatake."

He blinked. "Kohaku, please, li-"

"Better start with preparations. It might rain again, and we should be ready for some fog. Also-"

"Don't do this to me, Kohaku. Don't shut me out."

"And bring plenty of provisions. Well need them. Preferably things that will keep longer."

"Kohaku Endoso, talk to me!"

I turned away. Something hot trickled down my cold cheek.

A tear.

"You'd better be ready. Early." I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm.

"Let go of me." I stopped, not pulling away. Turning my head, I smiled. "You want to know about my past? I'll give you the violent bit."

He barely blinked, but he let go. "Good, good."

"As you wish, Hatake." I grinned at him, feeling tears burn in my eyes. "I was an experiment. My brother and I were. He was the one they wanted. I was the mistake."

His expression didn't change. I shook away my tears, refusing to be the teary little damsel in distress.

"There was only one person who cared. Only one person other than my brother who helped us; who helped me."

"Naoko."

I nodded, feeling the tears slip back into my eyes. "What else do you want from me? I need questions, because I don't know what to tell you." I was shaking. "I don't know!"

"What is it?" He looked up. "What is it he had that I don't?!"

I blanched. He... he knew what... "Kami, I'm so sorry." I gasped. I'd never ever _ever_ meant to make him feel like that.

Then what did you want him to feel, idiot?! I wanted to hit something. Myself, a tree. Him. No, not him. Naoko was dead, I should be over it.

"Sorry for what? Making me feel less than a dead fourteen year old boy?" He spat.

I opened my mouth and then closed it like some sort of dying fish out of water. "I...I..."

"You what, Kohaku?" His charcoal eyes were steely and cold.

"I... am an idiot." I said loudly, pointing to myself. A few people who were walking by gave me a strange look. "You..."

"I'm not leaving it." He sighed, like he was reading off a list. "I'm not ignoring it. I don't care if we're late."

I blinked. "I..."

He knew I'd reached my limits, and sighed. "Fine. Let's go. I'll... talk to you later."

"Okay." I whispered. He walked away, then turned and sent a sad smile before completely walking away.

Who knew rain could be so cold?


End file.
